Before The Wall: Local Benefit Attracts Hundreds To Support NYC Immigrants

On Friday night, as the city erupted with protests against Trump’s freshly signed executive order banning Muslim refugees from entering the United States, others gathered for a different kind of protest at Brooklyn’s Littlefield.

Before The Wall: A Benefit To Support Immigrant Communities, attracted hundreds of ticket-holders to the Gowanus venue to raise money and awareness for Women for Afghan Women and Sapna NYC — two grassroots organizations that support Muslim immigrants in New York City every day.

The lively event was organized as a side-project by attorney Piyali Basak and Adam Downey, co-owner of Northern Spy Records, bringing comedian Anish Mitra and three popular bands — Hearing Things, The Kominas, and headliner Shilpa Ray to electrify the crowd.

“It’s a way to channel that energy into something different,” said Basak, who began planning the event with Adam Downey right after the election.

“It’s comedy. it’s music. I’m hoping for it to be an outlet for people who are fired up, and also an outlet for people who are exhausted.”

Northern Spy Records stands behind the cause one hundred percent, said Downey, who signed up guests for raffles at the event. “I was able to go 3 hours without thinking of Trump today. It’s hard to do, it’s everywhere,” he said.

And the results far surpassed everyone’s expectations. “As an organizer, I was blown away by the support,” said Basak.

The benefit sold close to 350 tickets and raised $6,000. And for small, community-based organizations, that’s a big deal. And it wasn’t just the monetary value, Sapna NYC signed up many neighbors for their mailing list and volunteer opportunities.

With all the money funneling into large organizations like the ACLU, Basak wanted to focus on the under-recognized groups that fuel vital services for NYC’s immigrants, and help them mobilize on their own terms.

“We talk about immigrant communities, but a lot of them aren’t visible because they’re isolated, and they’re the hardest to access in terms of language,” she said.

Sapna NYC targets the language barrier by focusing on the community of South Asian women living in the Parchester neighborhood of the Bronx. Tanya Islam, who began volunteering with the organization while on a med school study abroad program, praised their women’s health initiative, which includes diabetes prevention and breast cancer awareness. “We’ll never ask about documentation,” she said.

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) provides legal services, ESL classes, and business lending programs, in addition to logistical support like how to find a job, pay bills, get car insurance, and help kids with homework.

“A lot of these things are confusing to women arriving from Afghanistan, they’ve never had to do these things before,” said volunteer Nilab Nusrat.

But for Nusrat, the Queens-based WAW program is more than paperwork assistance. It’s a group of powerful women who gave her opportunity and hope.

“Afghan women help you as if you’re their daughter,” said Nusrat, who was taken in by the group’s founder as a teenager. She first encountered WAW in Kabul when she was “languishing in a women’s prison” with her mother.

“This organization embraced me, gave me love and gave me an education,” said Nusrat, who is now a Junior in college and volunteers to help other kids prepare for college.

The grassroots organization boasts a vibrant community center in Queens and has extended its reach back to Afghanistan where it’s now the largest women’s organization in Afghanistan, said board member Sunita Viswanath.

“[WAW] is a force for justice in Afghanistan. That’s our footprint,” said Viswanath, shouting above the crowds at Littlefield. “We’re Muslim women, immigrants, we’re on the front lines. We’ve been tending to the fear, and arming women with information,” she said.

“There’s fear, but then there’s overcoming the fear and asserting yourself.”

Before the benefit headliner, Nusrat spoke about the Women’s March in D.C., which she and 50 other Afghani women attended on an advance from the benefit.

“At first after the election, I was terrified,” Nusrat told BKLYNER. “But after seeing women march together for justice, I am empowered. The United States is one of the greatest countries in the world. I doubted that for a moment, but the march restored my faith in this country,” she said.

Listen to Nusrat’s gave a moving speech on the Littlefield stage, that rang out in congruence with the voices of protesters only a couple miles away.

“The media usually portrays Afghani women as submissive, as people who need saving. But that’s not true. Afghan women are fierce,” she said, the audience responding with shouts and cheers.

Now, Basak and Downey want to grow the momentum from Before The Wall into a movement of fundraisers for community-based organizations.

“Protesting is important. But for some people, donating has a more tangible and direct impact,” said Basak. “I’m a public defender and a mom, and I’m constrained by what I can do. I can’t go to every protest. But this was an easy way to get involved and to get organized.”

Before The Wall is planning more fundraisers and putting together a guidebook for others to host their own. If you’re in the arts and want to contribute your resources, reach out to basak.piyali@gmail.com.