An Arab-American activist posed a social experiment asking strangers to trust him.
By Alexandra Rosenmann
Karim Sulayman is a an Arab-American tenor and activist from Chicago. Ten days after Donald Trump was elected president, Sulayman teamed up with filmmaker Meredith Kaufman Younger for a different kind of trust test. Blindfolded outside Trump International Hotel in New York City, Sulayman held a handwritten poster board sign. It read:
“Hello, my name is Karim and I am Arab-American. Like many people who are black, brown, women, LGBTQIA, Latinix, Muslim, Jewish, immigrants and Other, I am very scared. We are anxious and uneasy in our own country and it’s difficult to see what lies ahead for us. But, I have hope that I am safe with you. Together, we can build a community of caring, rather than one of fear. You can trust me to care for you no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you are from. Will you embrace me as willingly as I embrace you? Will you shake my hand and/or hug me and/or take a photo with me and post it as a sign that I am safe here with you? I trust you.”
Many took photos, some hugged, but everyone who passed by took notice.
BEAUTIFUL. #HOPE #SAFE Watch “Karim Sulayman – I trust you” on #Vimeo https://t.co/4mRlPx7A9o
— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) December 5, 2016
Wish I could’ve hugged him too… we need more of this kind of compassion and understanding! https://t.co/AtGMoG5vvG
— Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) December 10, 2016
Made by an old friend. Watch this. “Karim Sulayman – I trust you” on #Vimeo https://t.co/FfoV9M0Bql #YouAreSafeWithMe #SafetyInNumbers
— Maggie Gyllenhaal (@mgyllenhaal) November 26, 2016