Southpaw Michigan, An Exclusive Interview with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
About Our Interview Guest
Abdul El-Sayed was born and raised in Michigan by a family as diverse as our state, including immigrants who left Egypt in pursuit of greater opportunity in America, and farmers, teachers, and small-business owners who have lived in St. Louis, Michigan for generations. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007, where he deliver the student commencement speech alongside President Bill Clinton, went on to become a Rhodes at Oxford University, then earned a medical degree from Columbia. As a public health professor, Abdul became an internationally recognized expert in health policy and health inequalities, and at the age of 30 he was the youngest health official of a major American city working with Mayor Mike Duggan to rebuild Detroit’s health department after its privatization in 2012.
Since then, Abdul has worked tirelessly to ensure government accountability and transparency, promote health, and reduce cross-generational poverty across Detroit. Abdul takes a strong stance on public service and works to protect and defend the vulnerable in our communities. In his campaign to become Governor of Michigan he inspired many young Muslims Americans across the nation to step up to civic engagement and to take a stand for their rights and for representation. He continues to do so through his advocacy work with SouthPaw MI. Abdul lives in Detroit with his wife, Sarah. He loves water sports, working out, good biographies, coffee, and Michigan sports.
About Southpaw Michigan
Southpaw Michigan supports candidates and causes that move us toward a more just, equitable, and sustainable Michigan.
We are building on the movement that coalesced around Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s historic run for Governor of Michigan — a movement of thousands of Michiganders knocking hundreds of thousands of doors, making millions of phone calls, sending texts, and spreading the word to their communities.
We support people who stand up to corporate politics rather than play by its rules. We focus on down-ballot races in local communities across the State as well as statewide ballot proposals.
Our candidates and causes stand up to the corporate influence on our politics and support universal healthcare, full renewable energy and environmental protections, a livable minimum wage, labor rights, and full civil liberties that include comprehensive criminal justice reform, environmental justice, and LGBTQIA+ rights.
We believe that people – not money – win elections, and support candidates through grassroots organizing and fundraising support.
To learn more about Abdul El-Sayed, the lessons he gathered from his campaign for governor of Michigan, his take on his arrest during the protest on Woodward (“The Fight for the $15”) and his ongoing work with Southpaw Michigan, listen to our exclusive interview:
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