Meet Jenin Yaseen of dearborn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenin Yaseen.

Hi jenin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
For the Binat was founded in July 2020, born out of urgent community need.
After an Instagram call-out exposed a local man who had been sexually harassing girls in our community, we realized the problem was far deeper than just one individual, it was a systemic issue of misogyny, patriarchy, and forced silence.

We came together to create something we had never seen before in our community: an organization dedicated to centering survivors, amplifying their stories, and educating our community about the roots and impacts of gender-based violence.

We called ourselves For the Binat—”binat” meaning “girls” in Arabic—a name that honors those who have too often been dismissed, blamed, or forgotten.

Since our founding, we have:
Created multiple healing spaces for survivors and community members
Produced educational infographics on patriarchy, misogyny, and community accountability
Gotten involved in broader organizing efforts for justice, liberation, and cultural change in Dearborn

For the Binat exists because our community deserves spaces where girls, women, and nonbinary people are believed, supported, and protected. We know healing is political. We know our struggles are interconnected.
And we are here to build a future where our safety and dignity are never optional.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road.

Early on, we realized just how politicized and hyper-sensationalized Dearborn is—not only in Michigan, but across the U.S. We learned quickly that any organizing work here would be misunderstood, misrepresented, and at times deliberately erased.

During the book ban crisis, we saw firsthand how deep homophobia ran—among both white conservatives and members of our own Arab community. Books related to LGBTQ+ identities were targeted for removal from school libraries, and For the Binat was quick to respond.
We spoke at school board meetings.
We held healing spaces for impacted students.
We organized community conversations to push back against the narrative that hate had a home in Dearborn.

We were loud in calling out groups like Moms for Liberty for spreading homophobia and pretending to represent the whole Arab community. They did not, and they do not.

One of the hardest lessons we learned was how unjust media coverage could be. Journalists erased our voices and painted a sensationalized story that portrayed Arabs, and Dearborn specifically, as inherently homophobic and backwards.
They flattened us into a stereotype and erased the diversity, complexity, and resistance happening within our community.

We also had painful conversations with Arab mothers who were being erased from the narrative. Journalists uplifted a handful of loud Arab fathers, making it seem as if only they cared about their children, silencing the many Arab women, mothers, and caretakers fighting for a safer, more loving future for all our kids.

It was one of the roughest experiences we’ve had in organizing.
But it taught us the urgency of our work and the importance of telling our own stories, loudly and unapologetically.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work as an artist is deeply rooted in community, resistance, and the preservation of Arab identity. I see art as a political tool, as memory, survival, and a weapon against erasure.

I specialize in cultural and political art that amplifies Arab, SWANA, and Palestinian narratives particularly those often silenced or distorted by institutions. Through embroidery, painting, storytelling, and collective organizing, I explore how art can heal, resist, and build community.

Since October 2023, I have faced multiple attempts at censorship. As a Palestinian artist, I have seen firsthand how institutions attempt to sanitize our pain, erase our narratives, and police how we tell our own stories.
Despite this, I have remained committed to showing up loudly and unapologetically for my community.

One of my proudest moments was during my experience with the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).
After they attempted to censor my artwork in the “Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery” exhibit, I engaged in an 18-hour sit-in to demand my full piece be shown as I intended it. I refused to allow my story and by extension, my community’s history to be edited for institutional comfort. Eventually, they agreed to showcase the work as it was meant to be seen.

What sets me apart is that I do not separate my art from my politics, my healing, or my community.
Every stitch, every word, every piece I create is part of a larger fight for justice, dignity, and truth.
I believe art must be rooted in real community not sanitized for galleries or institutions or the elite that fear the truth we carry.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
As a grassroots organization, our success has never been about one individual, it has always been about the collective.

The real credit belongs to our members, who show up time and time again with love, courage, and an unshakable belief that our community deserves better. It is our members who have proven that true power comes from showing up for one another, dreaming together, organizing together, and refusing to give up even when the path is difficult.

They have taught me that love is political, that solidarity is action, and that grassroots change is not only possible, it is inevitable when a community moves together with purpose and care. Every person who has attended a healing space, helped organize an event, spoken truth to power, or simply offered a hand or a kind word along the way, they are the heartbeat of everything we do.

We are nothing without our people.
And we are everything because of them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alsumoudcenter.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/forthebinat