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26 Sep, 2016

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Caucus to Convene Right to Travel Panel: “Flying While Brown”

Washington, DC | www.adc.org | – For the first time, the upcoming American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) annual convention will feature a panel session titled “Flying While Brown” to provide an analysis of the increase in discrimination on commercial airlines.

The panel will discuss the profiling of Arab, Muslim and South Asian passengers at airports and by airlines. Many ethnic and religious minorities are routinely denied the right to travel on the basis of negative stereotypes and profiling. The panelists will discuss efforts to challenge airline discrimination, as well as current policy efforts to address profiling.

This timely and important conversation will include Ms. Lakshami Sridaran, Director of National Policy and Advocacy at South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT); Mr. Omar Mohammedi, Esq, Managing Partner at managing partner of the Law Firm of Omar T. Mohammedi; and Omar Victor Guerrero, Senior Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The session will take place on Saturday, October 1, 2016 from 10:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.  The ADC Convention will be held from September 29th – October 2nd, in Washington, D.C.

The convention is the largest annual gathering of Arab Americans and supporters.  It is an opportunity to meet and network with active members of the community from across the country, and a great way to educate the next generation about Arab American history, culture, politics and the future of the community.

The 2016 Convention will feature speakers, panelists, artists, and awardees who have taken action to promote and inspire positive change. Convention panels, workshops, working lunches, and banquet dinners will focus on issues of importance to the Arab-American community, including civil and human rights.

Says the ADC, “We will celebrate our achievements and discuss how we can take action to transform problematic issues into viable solutions.”

About the Panelists:

Omar Victor Guerrero is a Senior Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. Along with his colleagues at the Department, Mr. Guerrero’s major responsibilities focus on enforcing the civil rights statutes and regulations that guarantee the civil rights of persons with disabilities, as well as protect against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex and ancestry.

Lakshmi Sridaran is the Director of National Policy and Advocacy at SAALT. Ms. Sridaran comes to SAALT with a deep commitment to racial justice. Most recently she served as the Policy Director for The Praxis Project, a Washington-DC based, national movement support organization. In that capacity she provided policy, research, training, and campaign development support for grassroots organizations in communities of color working to advance health justice legislation at the state and local level.

Omar T. Mohammedi is the founder and managing partner of the Law Firm of Omar T. Mohammedi, LLC and a Professor of Law at Fordham Law School in New York. Mr. Mohammedi’s previous experience includes working at Shearman & Sterling, LLP and Anderson Kill & Olick, PC. Mr. Mohammedi has successfully litigated cases of national prominence. He has established legal precedent in important published court opinions.

Click here to view the full 2016 ADC Convention Program