PROGRAM

Program 6:30 PM

Book signing to follow

Please join us at Roosevelt House as we welcome one of the world’s champions of women’s rights, Manal al-Sharif, a devout woman from a modest family in Saudi Arabia who became the unexpected leader of a courageous movement to support women’s right to drive.

To mark the publication of her memoir, Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening, Manal al-Sharif will be in conversation with Hunter Adjunct Professor Fatima Shama, Executive Director, The Fresh Air Fund, and former Commissioner, NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Manal al-Sharif grew up in Mecca the second daughter of a taxi driver, born the year fundamentalism took hold. In her adolescence, she was a religious radical, melting her brother’s boy band cassettes in the oven because music was haram: forbidden by Islamic law. But education changed her life. By her twenties she was a computer security engineer, one of few women working in a desert compound that resembled suburban America. That’s when the Saudi kingdom’s contradictions became too much to bear.

The discussion will focus on the awakening of an accidental activist, a young Muslim woman who stood up to a kingdom of men—and won. In conversation with Ms. Shama, Manal Al-Sharif will offer a rare glimpse into the lives of women in Saudi Arabia today.

We hope you will be able to participate in this special evening.

This program is made possible through the generous support of
The Stepanski Family Trust.


MANAL AL-SHARIF Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening | Posted on June 8th, 2017 | Book Discussions, Public Programs