Dear Friend,

On Sunday night AAI will honor the Reverend Jesse Jackson with a Gibran Lifetime Achievement Award. This prestigious honor will be presented by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. I really want you to be part of this important celebration so please click this link to join us.

This event is part of AAI's Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Leadership Summit. All month the Gibran Summit has hosted transformative conversations to help us through these challenging times and refocus our advocacy for the challenges ahead. Now, it's time to reflect and celebrate how far we've come as a community, and Sunday night will be very special.

At a time when political leaders sought to block our community's participation, Reverend Jesse Jackson made a point to include Arab Americans and the issues we care about in his earliest political campaigns. For his lifelong and steadfast commitment to justice and elevating the well-being of all, including Arab Americans, AAI will honor Reverend Jackson with a Gibran Lifetime Achievement award. Reverend Jackson will accept this award on Sunday, June 27 during AAI's online Spirit of Humanity Leadership Summit.

As I mentioned, another dear friend of our community and extraordinary leader, Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison, will present this award. Attorney General Ellison has also made it his life's work to advance the rights and well-being of others. As many of you know, he stands at the forefront of the fight for justice today having successfully led the prosecution of George Floyd's killer.

AAI's Gibran Awards have always been about celebrating and shining a light on the best of humanity. With this in mind, it's fitting that we also take a moment to look back on where we started, acknowledge those who fought the early fights, and recognize just how far we've come. For this conversation, we'll be joined by an extraordinary group of Arab American leaders who fought those hard and early fights paving the way for our advocacy today and in the future.

We'll be joined by the Honorables: Annissa Essaibi-George, Boston City Council At-Large Member; Abdullah Hammoud, Michigan State Representative; Mike Khader, Yonkers, NY, City Council President; Suzanne Sareini, former Dearborn, MI City Council Member; and André Sayegh, Paterson, NJ, Mayor.

AAI's Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Leadership Summit programming is designed to bring us together in conversation and elevate Arab American leadership, and this celebratory event will be no different. I ask you to join us on Sunday night. If you do, you'll gain access to our previous conversations with Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Dr. Rashid Khalidi on Palestine, Rami Khouri on the current crisis in Lebanon, and Dr. Cornel West on race and democracy. These are informed and inspiring conversations you do not want to miss.

I hope you join us in celebrating the best of humanity and acknowledging our community's achievements on Sunday. It will be an amazing evening and I look forward to seeing you online.

Best,

Jim

Purchase your ticket here with a donation of $60.00.

Schedule

Sunday, June 27

8:00 PM ET

Lifetime Achievement Award presentation to the Reverend Jesse Jackson
Presented by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison

We hope you will join us as we continue to build Arab American political power and advocate for justice.

Arab American Institute Foundation
1600 K Street, NW, Suite 601
Washington, DC 20006
United States