Our Story
Our Story Unfolds
In 2016, a group of Arab and Arab-American youth founded the Arab Youth Collective (AYC) and began working with refugee families resettling in San Diego.
They welcomed these families upon arrival and offered social and educational programs to help ease their adjustment to life in the United States. The AYC hosted gatherings in parks, such as “Sunday Funday,” and held workshops in the local libraries to offer after-school homework support.
After two years of working with El Cajon’s Arab refugee and immigrant communities, the AYC found a space in El Cajon and opened its doors as the Khaled Bakrawi Community Center in January 2018. The founders of the Center named the center after Palestinan-Syrian martyr, Khaled Bakrawi, as a way to honor his legacy of youth organizing.
The Center was eventually renamed to Majdal: The Arab Community Center of San Diego. The name Majdal holds dual significance. Shared by occupied Palestinian villages that were ethnically cleansed in the Nakba of 1948, the name Majdal honors Palestinian refugeehood as we work to achieve dignity and self-determination for all displaced people. Majdal also means “tower” in Arabic, symbolizing the Center’s role as a lighthouse in supporting Arab community members navigate life beyond their homelands.
Since its opening, the center’s programming further evolved to directly meet the needs of its community members by offering culturally competent resources and professional skills trainings. With a focus on youth leadership, we have hosted tutoring programs and recreational activities. We have also hosted political education programs and launched campaigns to raise awareness around community issues.
In 2020, we hired our first full-time staff member to coordinate the Center’s programming and formalized a Steering Committee, the leadership body of the Center that implements our mission through campaigns and programs. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center hired a part-time Community Health Worker, who works on case management with community members and dispersing COVID-19 materials and information.
Today, we are proud to serve as a resource and community space that is welcome to all Arab residents, refugees and immigrants. We are looking forward to further growing as a Center and in community!
