Brown Bag Biography: Nadia Ben-Youssef

February 26, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Mānoa Campus, KUY 410

February 26: “Maktub: Anti-colonial refusal and the inheritance of Salah Ben Youssef” Nadia Ben-Youssef, Advocacy Director, Center for Constitutional Rights Cosponsored by Departments of English, Sociology, Political Science, Women, Gender and Sexuality, History, the Center for Oral History, Peacebuilding LLC, Students and Faculty for Justice in Palestine Organizer: Center for Biographical Research Location: Kuykendall 410 Time: 12:00–1:15 pm HST Nadia Ben-Youssef, granddaughter of refugees, revolutionaries and artists Maktub - Arabic for "it is written" - invites surrender and generational accountability. My grandfather Salah Ben Youssef was a revolutionary and freedom fighter in Tunisia’s independence movement, who dedicated his life to the struggle against colonialism in all of its forms and iterations. He belonged to a global movement of solidarity aiming to change the shape of the world, and was assassinated in 1961. For over 15 years, I have been documenting both our family history as well as the vision of the Third World movement, and recommitting to my own responsibility to my grandfather's life and sacrifice. The talk will trace his genealogy and mine, and point to the world we both know is possible. Nadia Ben-Youssef is a human rights lawyer serving as the Advocacy Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where she works alongside social movements and communities under threat in the U.S. and globally to resist systems and structures of oppression and to imagine the world anew. Central to Ben-Youssef’s lifework is a commitment to the liberation of Palestine, and she is a proud co-founder of the Adalah Justice Project. Nadia serves on the boards of Adalah Justice Project, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, and Multitude Films. Photos: Mohamed Ben Amar Ben Youssef, martyred December 2, 1955 (shot on November 29, 1955)


Event Sponsor
Center for Biographical Research, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Biographical Research, 8089563774, biograph@hawaii.edu

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