Photo credit: Najib Joe Hakim

In mid-November, we received the tragic news that our dear friend and community member, Nabila Mango, had passed away. She is survived by her beloved daughter, Bisan Shehadeh. Nabila was a life-long educator, activist, and advocate for the Palestinian right of self-determination. She was among the first supporters of MECA upon its founding in 1988 and was the first to receive MECA’s lifetime achievement award. We at MECA, feel the loss of Nabila Mango deeply and honor her many legacies.

Born in Jaffa in 1944, Nabila was one of over 750,000 Palestinians forced from their homes during 1948 Nakba when she and her family walked the long road to seek refuge in Jordan. As a teenager she returned to Palestine to study at Birzeit University. In 1965, Nabila immigrated to the US where she obtained a degree in library sciences and went on to work at Harvard University and later the University of Chicago.

In the 1970s, Nabila landed in the San Francisco Bay Area where she worked as an Arabic teacher, community organizer, and counselor supporting Middle Eastern immigrants in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. In 2000, she co-founded the Arabic music ensemble Aswat in order to teach and promote Arab culture through music. She firmly believed that collaboration in the arts was crucial to building bridges of solidarity between diverse communities. Nabila?had a remarkable talent for connecting people and one of her greatest legacies is the community she grew through her love of arts, education, and community service.