The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee: An In-Depth Discussion on Future Strategies

In a recent meeting, Abed Ayoub, National Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), led a deep dive into the state of the Arab-American community, its challenges, and the strategic direction of the ADC.

A Brief Overview of ADC

The ADC is a grassroots civil rights organization founded in 1980 by former U.S. Senator James Abourezk. Its mission is to defend the rights of people of Arab descent and promote their rich cultural heritage. Today, the ADC stands as the largest Arab American grassroots organization in the U.S.

“ADC is a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage.” – Abed Ayoub, National Executive Director of the ADC

The State of the Arab-American Community

Abed Ayoub discussed the current state of the Arab-American community, acknowledging the need for an inventory check of what’s been working and what hasn’t. He highlighted the need for better communication, cohesion, and strategy within the community, particularly in areas such as college campuses, social media, and political campaigns.

‘Our structures, our ways of communicating are not efficient, are not working, cohesion is lacking, strategy is lacking,’ – Abed Ayoub commented.

The ADC’s Strategic Direction

The ADC is keen on focusing on truth and justice, highlighting the importance of supporting elections well in advance and taking full advantage of online spaces. Abed highlighted how, despite not being featured on major news networks like CNN and MSNBC, the ADC has been able to control the narrative on social media.

‘They don’t have our people on CNN and MSNBC … which wasn’t a bad thing because we were able to control the narrative on social media’ – Abed Ayoub

The ADC is also committed to working with people across the political spectrum, focusing on issues that affect Americans across the board, and has been part of the anti-war movement for years.

Looking Forward

Going forward, the ADC is exploring how to improve its messaging and reach, targeting the ‘blue collar’ worker. The organization acknowledges the need to bring in professionals to do the work, use their skills wisely, and take their work very seriously. Abed also emphasized the importance of focusing more on local and state agendas and being prepared for midterm elections.

‘We need to have more of a focus on local and state agendas’ – Abed Ayoub

Final Thoughts

Despite the challenges, there’s an air of optimism. The ADC believes that they are in a far better position than ever before, with more awareness around their cause.

‘We are winning in the social media space. They are deplatforming us.’ – Abed Ayoub

However, they are prepared for the fact that as the movement transitions from a resistance movement to a leadership one, there will be new challenges to face.

Freedom Advocacy Network

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