This week marks the 27th anniversary of The Arab American News. It has been a very long roller coaster ride — the ups when we were able to make the community’s mark on policy formation or public discourse, the downs when we couldn’t make payroll or pay the printer. The news itself has been difficult to bear, even as we have been able to bring it to our readers. Imagine covering a decade of rapidly intensifying Islamophobia after three decades of Arabophobia, both subjects promoted by political interests with no regard for the truth or the consequences of their claims.

Most of us never expected to see the sweeping Arab revolutions happening in our lifetimes. And the outcomes are still uncertain. But certainly the first steps have been taken and have been breathtaking. The Arab World needs Arab Americans more than ever before, though not those on the payrolls of the dictators.

The past year has had its differences from those before. One has been the rapidly declining economy and its impact on business — ours and our readers. We’ve been through bad times from the beginning, and this year has been the worst. Our community is one of small business owners, and professionals who service them. We have all suffered. 

We also now approach the ten year anniversary of 9/11. It is hard to overestimate the negative impact this terrorist attack has had on our community and on America in general. It will take the hard work of many fighting long and diligently to reverse the civil liberties declines that have taken place over the past decade. Preventing further terrorist attacks in legitimate ways is also more important than ever. We know that transparent media will be of paramount importance in these battles.

And what to say of the revolutions sweeping the Arab world? Most of us never expected to see this happen in our lifetimes. And the outcomes are still uncertain. But certainly the first steps have been taken and have been breathtaking. The Arab World needs Arab Americans more than ever before, though not those on the payrolls of the dictators. We need to help policy makers here truly understand and admit and care about what’s going on in our homelands and in where America’s interests really lie.

The past year has also witnessed The Arab American News come together with mainstream media and with other ethnic media in a common effort to educate each other and mainstream media about the varied cultures than make up America today and contribute our unique expertise to the global challenges we all face. The recent Asian American Journalists Association convention in Detroit and their visit to Dearborn showed how that can work. In alliance, ethnic media is the future of this country. We are happy to announce that we have formed, with The Michigan Chronicle, The Jewish News, The Michigan Korean Weekly and The Latino Press, an organization called New Michigan Media, working together to promote the news and views of these ethnic communities.

We look forward to putting a quarter century of experience into helping shape the next decade in journalism.