DEARBORN — One of metro Detroit’s most cherished Martin Luther King, Jr. commemorations marked its 11th anniversary on Jan. 29 as the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Michigan held its MLK Scholarship Awards Reception.

ADC MLK Scholarship awardees                      PHOTOS: Nafeh AbuNab

Byblos Banquet Hall was sold out, with several high-ranking officials and political figures attending, including Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, and Barbara Levin, wife of U.S. Senator Carl Levin.
But as always, the focus was on the students as 12 winners of the ADC’s MLK Jr. essay contest were honored and presented with scholarships.

The winners were high school seniors who submitted essays about what the holiday and Dr. King’s legacy meant to them. Each essay was read three times by a panel of judges and over 60 essays were collected.

The ADC gave out Merit Scholarship Awards to Samar Abboud of Crestwood High School in Dearborn Heights, Batool Saad, Zainab Alsamarae, Rima Imad Fadlallah, and Ranya Ilayian of Fordson High School in Dearborn, Saher Omer of Melvindale High School and Mona Saleh of Universal Academy in Detroit.

The MLK, Jr. Scholarship Award winners were Diab Ali for first place, Houda Zreik for second place, Ali Mohamed Reda for third place, and Sahar Adora for fourth place. All four candidates attend school at Fordson as seniors.

Later in the evening, the spotlight shone on first place winner Ali as he read his prize-winning essay to the sold out crowd.

Ali said he was nervous in the beginning but the feeling quickly subsided as he read his essay entitled “A Blind Prophet,” a personal account of how Dr. King’s message of perseverance in the face of adversity lifted his spirits and filled him with hope despite his awareness of the myriad humanitarian problems facing the world today.

“I tried to write it in the same way and sense of how Dr. King would have written it,” Ali said of the essay, which elicited thunderous applause from the audience.

Fox 2 reporter Bill Gallagher, who served as master of ceremonies for the night and also received a certificate of appreciation from ADC, had high praise for Ali’s essay.

“That was probably the best-written English I’ve heard certainly this year and in a long time,” he said.

Excerpts from other winners were also included in the program for the event.

Second-place winner Zreik talked about the importance of Dr. King’s famous “Dream.”

“The obstacle of assisting mankind’s institute of peace and justice begins with one generation taking the initiative to set the goal in motion,” she wrote. “This one generation was born when Dr. King had a dream.”

Third-place winner Reda drew a parallel between Arab and African American trials in his essay.

“The African American mother who shields her son in her arms and protects him is the same as the Arab woman who shields her son from the weapons of the oppressors,” he wrote.

Dearborn Mayor Jack O’ Reilly also had high praise for the ADC as it continues to work to protect civil and human rights of Arab Americans and all people despite trying economic times and budget problems.

“I’m so proud (Regional Director) Imad (Hamad) originally chose Dearborn to have the office here,” he said.

Dearborn Public School Board President Aimee Blackburn presents an award to Tahsine Bazzi for Educator of the Year.

ADC also honored Henry Ford Community College and President Dr. Gail Mee with the Diversity in Education Award for their various initiatives to reach out to the Arab American community and Dearborn Public Schools Student Services and Community Liason Tahsine Bazzi as Educator of the Year for his work within the system.
The ADC also gave special recognition to the Best Buy electronic and appliances company for its Eid al-Adha greeting this past fall on its ad fliers.

Prior to the awards being distributed, Napoleon spoke about the work done by the ADC and the importance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“The work of the ADC is very important, and to celebrate this holiday with the scholarship awards is something very inspiring and special,” he said.

“I remember growing up when we had separate water fountains and bathrooms for people of color, so it’s an honor to see the ADC honoring Dr. King’s legacy which was all about justice and peace for all people.”

 

Diab Ali, first place winner of the MLK Scholarship Awards, presented by ADC-Michigan, stands in front of a poster of Martin Luther King, Jr. after reading his award-winning essay.

First place MLK Scholarship winner Diab Ali’s full essay:
A Blind Prophet

I was a beast once.

Taste my past writing and see through the eyes of a soul imprisoned:

“As human beings, our own progress and welfare inevitably are what matter to us most. Our relationships based in selfishness, our interactions rooted in deception, and our nature plagued by sin, humanity is a hopeless cause. It will never change.”

These abominations were my thoughts. I looked around at the world and saw a society that would never accept me; condescending to my Arabic heritage. I peered into Islam for guidance and saw that my religion had become torn and weakened by the differences my people would not put aside. I looked to my country of Lebanon and perceived its beauty as naught but tragic and fleeting due to the inevitable hammer of war. I swiftly avoided becoming attached. Imagine that! Mentally abandoning my origins for a belief that it was the “logical” choice in the long run. The world around me in chaos, similar and redundant problems throughout, I distanced myself from its wonders, though fascinated by it. You see, I was afraid…afraid that I would, if too close to this corruption, gain its attributes. I preferred to feel nothing rather than risk enduring the pain of loss.

And so, I studied and watched the world from a distance, believing that the joy of understanding was all that was attainable, for lasting change certainly was not. My heart pumped cold blood, but blood nonetheless, keeping me alive…

…Or so I thought.

I was a beast once, though my definition of truly living was soon to change. I had looked into the past and future of humanity and only saw darkness, not realizing it made me blind — a blind prophet whose eyes would soon see the brightest of light in the darkest of skin.

His name was…is… Martin Luther King Jr., and he delivered to a blind prophet a life-altering message.

Yes, where there are humans, there will likely be some form of corruption. Greed insures that. Yet, Dr. King teaches me that where there is corruption, where lies plague innocence, where immorality thrives, just change will triumph as long as good will lives. His message now inspires me to trust in hope when I had thought it fruitless and naïve.

He shows me that my own life is of much greater quality when not its own drive, empowers me to use my mind as a shield and love as a sword, and liberates me when I think I am already free.

Through studying a great man’s journey, I gained all this, and more: pride in my own people. I realize now that I must not abandon them, but embrace the culture if I am to help catalyze change and rid us of the injustices which pursue. I will no longer fear society’s effects, but affect it regardless of my own personal sanctity. As animals adapt through conflict, as businesses develop new products through competition, as the smallest hairs grow back only after being cut down, as the very mountains of Earth were carved by the epic collisions of underground forces, and as I learned to pick myself back up after falling down, I believe there will be a day when my people will overcome the shackles of stereotypes and racism, and rebuild…restore honor and opportunity through peace and kinship. I have faith. If sacrifice must be made, so be it. “The readiness is all,” and with it comes purpose. It defines me, as Dr. King defines it.

I was a beast once. I now proudly call myself a humanist, for Dr. King graced me with the vision to see through the illusions. Through all of the wrongs, through all the wars and the chaos, through all the racism, through all the pain and suffering, there is good in humanity — too much good to forsake. The conscience embedded within us. The altruism which betters us. The equality which binds us. The passion which blesses and guides us. He was right. “Unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

Dr. King was a shooting star. His life passed before we could fully cherish it, but for that small time, we all looked up in awe, forgot differences, saw the beauty in life, held hands, made wishes…and once it was over, it wasn’t. The message remains in our hearts…and molds mine. It, as he, is immortal.

I was a beast once. Now I dream.