{"id":311,"date":"2017-04-04T23:15:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T20:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=311"},"modified":"2017-08-07T23:18:14","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T20:18:14","slug":"abdul-el-sayed-runs-for-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/abdul-el-sayed-runs-for-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"Abdul El-Sayed Runs for Governor"},"content":{"rendered":"
On a brisk February afternoon, Abdul El-Sayed addressed a crowd in Detroit\u2019s Eastern Market. His decision to announce his candidacy to be Michigan\u2019s next governor in the city\u2019s farmer\u2019s market was purposeful. \u201cMy father immigrated here from a coastal town in Egypt: Alexandria. His father used to sell tomatoes in the fish market. His mother raised six kids in a one-bedroom apartment,\u201d said El-Sayed as he live-streamed the announcement via Facebook, an approach he often takes to address current events. \u201cWhen he came here as a student at Wayne State University he would come to this market to buy the foods to make the dishes that would make him feel at home. This market for him brought him back to Alexandria right here in Detroit\u2026 I\u2019m the son of two proud Egyptian Americans. They immigrated here for search of a better life.\u201d<\/strong><\/h6>\n

By: Eli Newman – Detroit – The Yemeni American News<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up in Bloomfield Hills, Abdul El-Sayed said he\u2019s learned a lot from his parent\u2019s experiences. \u201cTheir story has taught me that Americans can come together despite their differences to aspire towards a better future,\u201d El-Sayed told the Yemeni American News via email. \u201cMy parents immigrated here from Egypt and divorced and both remarried. I was raised in a half-Egyptian, half-White household where I saw the day-to-day benefits of diversity. We are bigger than our differences, and stronger because of them.\u201d For El-Sayed, the fact that he\u2019s a practicing Muslim is only an aspect of his story. \u201cI am running to be the governor of Michigan. Islam is one part of my identity – an important part, but just one part,\u201d El-Sayed said. \u201cFor me, being Governor of Michigan means standing up for all Americans and aspiring towards the ideals of America as being a place big enough for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attending the University of Michigan, El-Sayed earned honors while pursuing a dual bachelors degree in both political science and biology. He also served as the vice-president of the Muslim Students\u2019 Association and was a starting defensemen on the Michigan Men\u2019s Lacrosse team. Graduating with the class of 2007, El-Sayed gave the student commencement address alongside former President Bill Clinton.<\/p>\n

Following his undergraduate studies, El-Sayed pursued the first half of an MD at the University of Michigan Medical School and earned a PhD in epidemiology at Michigan\u2019s School of Public Health. After two years, El-Sayed entered the Rhodes Scholarship program at the University of Oxford in England. He eventually finished his medical degree from Columbia Uni<\/p>\n

versity in New York, where he would continue to work as faculty in the Mailman School of Public Health.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, El-Sayed found his calling in Detroit. During the city\u2019s emergency management, the Detroit Health Department was privatized, a first for a major American city. When Mayor Mike Duggan took office, he contacted El-Sayed to lead the department as it returned to the public sphere. At 30-years-old, El-Sayed became Health Officer and Executive Director of the Detroit Health Department in 2015, making him one of the youngest in his field to hold the position in the U.S. He spent his time growing the department and advocating for the health of Detroiters, actively speaking out against an expansion of the Marathon refinery in Southwest Detroit that would increase sulfur dioxide emissions. El-Sayed left his position in Detroit to run for governor. \u201cThere are a lot of talented people here who are driven to careers in public service,\u201d Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement. \u201cAbdul is pursuing his dream and I wish him the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sayed says his background makes him the best candidate in the Democratic field. \u201cI am a doctor, an educator, and a public servant; I\u2019m also a millennial and come from a family that represents all aspects of the diversity of this state. A sustainable economy that keeps young talent at home, a quality public education system, and public health – these are places where State government is failing poor and working people across our state,\u201d El-Sayed said. \u201cI am uniquely positioned to understand and solve Michigan\u2019s problems. I don\u2019t come from a family with political connections, or from big money. Instead, my work is driven by a core belief in people. This led me to directly engage with the communities that government serves, rather than raise my hand in the legislature. [Recently], we faced the possibility of hundreds of thousands of Michiganders losing their healthcare. As the Health Commissioner of Detroit, that would\u2019ve been the majority of people in my city. Those are people who I know personally, and who I served as Health Commissioner and who I will serve as Governor. And so, for me, these issues are very real.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sayed\u2019s political campaign has billed itself as progressive within the Democratic field, with priorities set on promoting Michigan businesses that work within the communities they employ, protecting the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (often referred to as \u201cObamacare\u201d), and an emphasis on maintaining public education in the state. \u201cOur state cannot stand another four years of leadership by people who fundamentally don\u2019t understand the challenges that this state faces. \u2018Government as business\u2019 is what allows crises like Flint to happen, and what leads us to disinvest from our schools – and our children\u2019s futures,\u201d El-Sayed said. \u201cI believe in Government for people, and by people. That\u2019s what Michigan needs right now, and given my work as a doctor, an educator, and a public servant and my connection to so many parts of our state, I am standing up for working people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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