April 16th, 20220On March 22, the Dearborn City Council unanimously passed a resolution requiring ballot translation to any language spoken by more than 10,000 residents (or 5 percent of the population, whichever criteria is met first).
The resolution also calls for implementation to start as early as the August primary election. This was a historical...
April 14th, 20220WAYNE COUNTY — On Tuesday, April 12, Wayne County Commissioners declared April as Arab American Heritage Month in the county, unanimously approving a resolution sponsored by Commissioners Sam Baydoun (D-Dearborn) and Al Haidous (D-Wayne).
“It is more important than ever that we recognize the many contributions Arab Americans...
April 12th, 20220DEARBORN — Dearborn student Ronny Majeed Abdullah is one of 100 graduating high school students in the U.S. — and the only one in Michigan — to receive the prestigious Cooke College Scholarship.
Recipients will receive up to $55,000 annually to cover costs associated with their undergraduate education as they go on to attend...
April 9th, 20220A new agreement between Amtrak and the TSA to screen passengers against the controversial "terrorist watchlist" — deemed by many as unconstitutional — is raising concerns among civil rights advocates.
This week, a report by Hearst Television revealed that the TSA agreed to Amtrak’s request that it screen passengers against...
April 6th, 20220WEST BLOOMFIELD — The West Bloomfield School District announced this week it has hired Dr. Dania Bazzi to lead the district as its next superintendent.
The District said its Board of Education made the decision on Monday, in a united vote regarding the terms of Bazzi’s contract.
Bazzi is a public school superintendent offering...
March 30th, 20220DEARBORN — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has agreed to create a Detroit-based U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) community relations position that will be dedicated to building trust and working with Michigan’s Arab and Muslim American communities, and other impacted communities.
The liaison position comes after...
March 19th, 20220DEARBORN — Sam Hussein, owner of Metrotech Automotive Group on Michigan Avenue in east Dearborn, has been busy during the state’s painful pothole season.
It’s no wonder he is. Managing the 35,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility and a full crew of technicians is no small matter. But what really makes the shop unique is...
February 22nd, 20220DETROIT — A U.S.-based, Arab female-owned dating app has seen a massive increase in users around the world and growing popularity in international app markets.
Baklava, an "Arab relationship app for dating, marriage and friendships", announced last week that it is now at 160,000 plus downloads and growing.
The app is now seeing...
February 11th, 20220DEARBORN — Mariam E. Charara has begun work as the Arab American Civil Rights League’s (ACRL) new executive director.
The ACRL is a non-profit organization, founded in 2011 in response to the overwhelming need in the Arab American community for advocacy and protection of civil rights and liberties.
The organization is based...
February 9th, 20220By Joseph Richard Preville
On August 4, 1963, The New York Times Magazine published President Kennedy’s majestic essay, “A Nation of Immigrants.” Rejecting geographically narrow and restrictive immigration quotas based on national origin for the U.S., Kennedy urged reform and the adoption of a new immigration policy that would...
January 30th, 20221— Sara Nasser is a licensed clinical/community mental health counselor and art therapist.
It appears the only time we ever really hear about mental health issues in our community is when something unfortunate has happened. So, naturally, the subject becomes a topic of fear to some. Oftentimes, mental illness is hard to recognize or...
December 26th, 20210With COVID-19 cases continuing to surge in the area, religious and community leaders are urging people to take caution around the holidays.
The Wayne County Health Department COVID-19 dashboard shows Dearborn still in the lead for total cases and deaths. County-wide cases continue to average well above 500 a day and hospital emergency...
December 24th, 20210MICHIGAN — The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) is expected to vote on the final political district maps starting Dec. 28.
The upcoming finalization of the state’s political boundaries comes after months of debate and deliberation over the drawing of state and federal districts, with the aim to give...
November 19th, 20210DETROIT — The National Arab American Bar Association (NAABA) Michigan Chapter held its first annual End of the Year Khalta on Nov. 17 at the Atheneum Suite Hotel in Detroit.
This was the new association’s first event and the organization says it was elated by the turnout.
NAABA Michigan formed eight months ago, with the same...
November 15th, 20210DEARBORN – Now that the general election dust has settled, The Arab American News examined Dearborn election results broken down by precincts. Here are some observations based on the detailed results:
• The candidates' rankings in the different areas of the city (see tables) offer several key conclusions:
1. Dearborn’s...
November 12th, 20210DEARBORN — With a historic election in the books, the voter turnout across the city was surprisingly low in every precinct.
Precinct 32 had the highest voter turnout percentage of 51.11 percent and 441 people voting at the polls, with 252 voters returning their absentee ballots.
Precinct 35 had the second highest voter turnout...
November 11th, 20210SOUTHFIELD — Dr. Tarek M. Sobh has been appointed as the eighth president of Lawrence Technological University (LTU), announced Douglas Ebert, chairman of LTU’s Board of Trustees.
Sobh, an Egyptian American, is a licensed professional engineer and has served as vice president of academic affairs and provost at Lawrence Tech since...
November 11th, 20210A Palestinian American has announced her campaign to represent Michigan’s 10th Congressional District.
Huwaida Arraf is a "working mother, human rights advocate, attorney and first-generation American," says a campaign press release. She is vying for a Congressional seat in a state that is slated to see a reshaping of its political...
November 5th, 20210This week, headlines regarding Tuesday’s election across local, national and international media included some version of the word "historic."
Not surprising when one takes into consideration that three Arab American candidates in some of the state’s densest cities enjoyed landslide victories for mayoral races: Amer Ghalib in...
November 3rd, 20211HAMTRAMCK — Amer Ghalib celebrated a decisive victory against a long-time incumbent mayor on Tuesday, in an election that marks the changing of political tides in the city's history.
Ghalib may also be the first fully Yemeni American to serve as mayor of an American city, though Montgomery Township, New Jersey's Sadaf Jaffer,...
October 30th, 20210Endorsing candidates for important offices is a major responsibility for local organizations and newspapers.
For an ethnic newspaper, the voice of the community we advocate for has to be taken into consideration, as should the issues that affect it the most. But decisions on endorsements cannot simply come about with a superficial...
October 23rd, 20210HAMTRAMCK — Hamtramck’s mayoral race has taken a historic turn during and after the primaries, with Yemeni American candidate Amer Ghalib emerging as front runner, competing against long-time incumbent Mayor Karen Majewski.
The Arab American News reached out to both, with questions geared towards their particular campaigns. The...
October 16th, 20210— Amer Zahr is a comedian, writer, speaker and adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
I have been closely following the Michigan redistricting process as it pertains to Dearborn and the State House. I presented once in front of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) on Sept. 7...
October 15th, 20210DEARBORN — A fresh set of draft maps for the State House, Senate and federal Congressional districts published by the state’s citizen-led Redistricting Commission have been available for public consideration for the past few weeks.
Those draft maps currently in front of the 13-member Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting...
October 2nd, 20210The state’s citizen-led redistricting effort is approaching some crucial deadlines and draft maps have been released for public consideration that show how the process could potentially rework the state’s political maps.
Michigan voters approved the creation of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) in...
September 27th, 20210— This article was written with generous support from the Education Writers Association's Reporting Fellows program
There is little doubt that the Arab American community in Metro Detroit has made great headway in gaining political and economic security as it grows and evolves. Much of this momentum can be attributed to a culture...
September 11th, 20210Twenty years later, the Muslim community in the U.S. and abroad is reflecting on the legacy of U.S. response to the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
The tragedy and trauma of the surreal attacks of that day are coupled with two decades of domestic and foreign policy that deeply changed the relationship between the U.S. government,...
September 10th, 20210— This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com
Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives on that fateful day. We...
