DEARBORN – Farris Barakat, brother of Chapel Hill murder victim Deah Barakat, delivered a powerful speech at the closing of the American Arab Anti Discrimination of Michigan (ADC-MI) 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Award Dinner. 

Barakat, who flew in from Chapel Hill with family members to attend the dinner and make other appearances in metro Detroit this weekend, moved attendees to tears with his emotional narrative of the events which led Craig Hicks to murder Deah, his wife, Yusor Abu-Salha and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha. 

“My brother was murdered in his apartment and the defense says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Barakat said. “The fundamental question is did my brother, Yusor or Razan do anything to Craig Hicks. I truly believe the answer is yes. They  assaulted this mentality that he had in his head that religion is bad. This man wasn’t an atheist, but an anti-theist. So to see such happy, vibrant, educated Muslims was turning his world upside down. My brother and Yusor assaulted him with their smiles.”

In the months following the murders of the students in North Carolina, friends and family described them as active members of their community who had aspirations and goals. Barakat told attendees that his brother aspired to be a dentist because he loved to make people smile. 

“It is my sincere conviction that God took his smile from this earth to replace it with a better one,” Barakat noted. “My brother’s legacy has been one about dentistry. He put a smile on everyone’s face; he always smiled and more importantly he really wanted to make the idea of going to the dentist fun for his children.” 

He described details of the violent apartment scene, stating that his brother was killed by a bullet that entered his mouth and shattered his three front teeth.

 “I don’t know if it’s irony; I don’t know if it’s just a divine plan,” he said. “But for my brother to be known as a dentist and to see him missing three teeth and others broken, it was something that was hard to fathom and hard to take in.”

Barakat noted that the initial reason the family began speaking to the media was because the story was spun as a “parking dispute.” He acknowledged the U.S. Attorney, FBI agents and the chief of police in Chapel Hill for following through with a thorough investigation into the case. 

“Where he is, where Yusor is and where Razan are, that’s something that Craig Hicks can’t take from us,” Barakat said. 

Prior to Barakat’s speech, the dinner kicked off with opening remarks from Bishop Walter Starghill, president of the Western Wayne branch of the NAACP. Charlie Langton, an attorney and field reporter on FOX 2 News, served as the master of Ceremonies.

During her speech, ADC-MI Director Fatina Abdrabboh pointed out injustices that continue to target minority groups on a daily basis. 

She noted that in the last year, ADC has seen a huge surge in discrimination cases against Muslims and Arabs in their places of employment, at universities, at the border and at airports.

She added that the depiction of Arabs as violent, foreign savages in the media and  in films such as “American Sniper” has all the more led to ignorance and hate against Muslim and Arab communities.

“We are the target in this community of a combined brand of racist and religious bigotry,” Abdrabboh said. “Islamophobia, which ignites anti-Arab bigotry, is a problem for Arab Christians just as much as it is for non-Arab Muslims.”

She added that a deliberate blending of anti-Arab bigotry with Islamophobia makes everyone and anyone associated with either classification vulnerable to discrimination and violence.

Keynote speaker Mark Fancher, a racial justice staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan, discussed the similar struggles of the Arab American and African American communities, asking for a united front from both ends. 

“We must not let barriers separate us,” Fancher said. “We must come together as communities of cross-racial, cultural and religious lines and unite for the cause of justice. We must recognize that regardless of what animosity or cultural differences that may exist with respect to our communities, in many ways we share many of the same problems.” 

Fancher noted that many of the people who continue to cause roadblocks for minority groups may not share commonalities, but seem to unite in the face of oppression. 

 “Many of them don’t like each other, but they are united in knowing that it’s necessary to put both of our communities down,” Fancher said. “When its time for them to work together and time for them to take care of business in kicking us both around, they do it without any hesitation at all.” 

The ADC also recognized several difference makers during the award ceremony. Robert Green, who worked with Dr. King, was recognized with a Freedom & Justice Award.

Stout Middle School teacher Khadigah Alasry was recognized with the Teacher of The Year Award for the establishment of the “BeOne Club,” a student-led action group against injustice. Detroit Charter School teacher Ammerah Saidi also received an award for promoting social justice among her students.

Steve Sosebee, the co-founder and president of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, received a Humanitarian Award.

The ADC-MI awarded 14 Michigan students with scholarships after they had submitted entries in an open essay contest. First place winner was Mohammad Z. Abdulghani, a Fordson High School student, who is receiving a $3,000 scholarship to Harvard University.

Both Fordson High School and Universal Academy had four students receive scholarships, while two were from Crestwood High School. Students from Stevenson High School, West Bloomfield High, Edsel Ford and Star International Academy were also among the 14.