Deir Debwan

This is the twenty-second in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Contributing writer, John Mason, writes about our twenty-second pathbreaker Maysoon Zayid. Born in New Jersey with cerebral palsy in 1974 to immigrant Palestinian Muslim Arab parents, Maysoon is a comedian, actress, writer, and disability advocate. She has faced numerous obstacles from disability discrimination and distrust over her Palestinian Arab ethnicity. The New Arab news source describes her perfectly as “a shining example of Arab American excellence.”