Rooted in Palestine: Fostering Identity and Advocacy Among Our Youth
Sun, Apr 25, 2021 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Register here.
A conversation about teaching our kids about Palestine and Palestinian identity
About this Event
The Museum of the Palestinian People (MPP) is excited to offer this important panel discussion about raising kids in the diaspora.
We will introduce parents and families to strategies for building identity and offering kids an environment to embrace, learn, and educate others about their Palestinian heritage. There is no one way to be Palestinian, but being Palestinian can predictively come with certain reactions and we want to give you the tools to handle these moments with your kids.
We’ll talk about how to respond to complicated school situations, how to navigate issues you may encounter when talking to your kids about Palestine, and how you can help your kids navigate their own Palestinian identity. We will also have time at the end for audience Q&A!
We hope you will join us for this engaging conversation!
Susan Darraj is an award-winning writer and professor. Her short story collection, A Curious Land: Stories from Home, was named the winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction. In 2019, she launched the viral #TweetYourThobe social media campaign to promote Palestinian culture. Her chapter book series, Farah Rocks, debuted in 2020 by Captstone Books. The series is about a smart, brave Palestinian American girl named Farah Hajjar.
Thuraya Zeidan’s work focuses on including the marginalized in school curricula, where it is long overdue and needed in all of our schools. She promotes equity in the classroom and wants to ensure student perspectives and experiences are brought to the forefront. Her research interests include anti-racist teaching, multicultural literature, developing culturally responsive instruction and the lived experiences of students from diverse backgrounds. Zeidan serves on the NJEA’s member advisory council for the Racial Equity, Affirmation, and Literacy Movement and is on the member advisory council for the Racial Equity committee in my district where she is also a union representative. Zeidan gives workshops/presentations to teachers to improve anti-racist teaching and the classroom environment.
Rifk Ebeid is the debut author of the must-have children’s book “Baba, What Does My Name Mean?” She was born and raised in the United States, but is originally Palestinian, hailing from the beautiful cities of al-Khalil (Hebron) and al-Quds (Jerusalem). Rifk has been a lifelong lover of all things Palestine, and first began her advocacy work with an impassioned letter to the editor in the seventh grade. Her happiest memories were the summers she spent in Jerusalem with her very big Palestinian family, exploring the land and soaking in every bit of its rich history and resilient people. She lives in Florida, with her husband, family, and three children, who were all named after beloved cities in Palestine.
Ruba Marshood is a Palestinian-American community leader with over 15 years of international development and non-profit experience. She has worked with global and local agencies, ranging from the United Nations to small organizations in different parts of the world, cultivating community collaborations and advancing social justice and equity. Currently, as Director of Partnerships and Community Engagement with the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia, Ruba fosters strategic relationships with other nonprofit, civic, government and corporate entities. She has served on various committees focused on the needs of the underserved in the region, including her appointment to the Alexandria City Public School 2025 Strategic Planning Committee, Alexandria City’s COVID-19 Community Response Advisory Committee, and the Fairfax County Community Partnership Strategy Team, of which she is a co-lead. She is Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the non-profit Montessori School of Northern Virginia and an alumna of the Princeton AlumniCorps’ Emerging Leaders program. She was recently named a Northern Virginia 2021 “40 Under 40 Winner” by Leadership Center for Excellence and Leadership Fairfax. Ruba received her BSc from University of Maryland and her MA from Duke University. A published photographer, lover of dance and food, Ruba’s greatest joy is hearing her children laugh and watching them proudly embrace their Palestinian heritage.
