I still remember how I felt at 19 walking to class at USC after the attacks on September 11th. It was an overcast day in LA and I was shaken. Like every other American, I felt fear, anxiety and anger. But as a young Arab American, I was also afraid of how I would be received. Things had changed.
Growing up half-Latino and half-Arab American always meant I was going to be a little different than everyone else. Pita sandwiches made me stand out at lunch and my name was “weird.” But I never felt like an outsider until those weeks after September 11th.
I heard the words of hate and the legitimate fears of my classmates. All I could do was follow the advice of my Latina mom and pray. Pray for advice on what I can do to be a part of the solution.
It’s this desire to be a part of the solution that drove me to become a civil rights lawyer. Its why I got involved in politics and sacrificed years of student debt to be a staffer in the U.S. Senate, work for President Obama and be the only Arab American and Latino Chief of Staff in Congress.
Over the years, those feelings as an outsider went away. I felt troubled by the direction of our country, but no longer an outsider.
All of that came crumbling when Donald Trump was elected. I felt that same fear, anxiety and anger on November 9th. Once again, I decided to be a part of the solution.
Here is my story of why I am running for Congress in California’s 39th congressional district:
If there is ever a way to piss off Trump, its by sending a Latino and Arab American for Congress. But I am running on more than that. Washington is broken – I saw it in my roles in government and experienced it in business. You see I grew up in a working class home where we had to learn to stretch a dollar. We never had the luxury of doing nothing. But change first starts with stopping Trump. And we can do that while also infuriating him.
Join my campaign and help us spread the word in the 39th district.