Person of the Week: Ferial Masry

July 30, 2004 -- Amid the excitement on the floor of the Democratic National Convention sat Ferial Masry, a high school history and government teacher running for a local assembly seat in a Los Angeles suburb. If she wins in November, Ferial will be first person born in Saudi Arabia to hold elected office in the United States.

"I could see when [my students] come in, they bring their parents and say, 'My teacher, you know she is going to be president,' " Masry said. "I say 'No, no, no! Not the president. I can't be the president. Remember I wasn't born here. But I'm going to be in the government!'"

No wonder that this week, she has been sought after by the Arab television networks covering the convention. Ferial has a unique perspective on American politics, and to viewers in the Arab world she is an example of the American experience.

Ferial said she is motivated, more than anything else, by the U.S. Constitution.

"It's a very small document — 7,000 words, five pages — but what it had in it is something visionary and beautiful," she said. "It really emphasized not to put the power into one man or one group."

Masry is deeply involved, like many Americans, in national issues. She is against the war in Iraq, even though she's running in a district that favors it.

Her son Omar is an Army sergeant who just returned home after serving in Iraq for a year and a half. His service makes for good debate at the kitchen table, and Omar and her two other children are only too willing to engage.

"I learned early on to define who I am and not accept society or let anybody define myself," said Masry. "I became an individual different from the people around me."

Born in Muhammad's Birthplace

She was born in Mecca, in western Saudi Arabia, which was the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. She is one of seven children.

Her mother never learned to read or write; in her day, women were not permitted an education. But she sent her girls to be educated in Egypt.

"She sent three little girls to Egypt to be educated," Masry said. "I remember the day she gave us our clothes, and she put candy in my hand, and put us on the airplane and she said 'go.' "