March 13th, 20260As Israel’s continuing assault on Lebanon drives wave after wave of displacement, Lebanese American organizations in Metro Detroit have stepped up relief efforts to support families uprooted by the violence.
While the resistance continues confronting Israeli forces on the ground and striking inside Israel with rockets and drones, the...
February 27th, 20260Arab American attorney Shereef Akeel does not hide his enthusiasm for adding a new chapter to his distinguished career defending civil rights, the law and the Constitution — this time by running for a seat on the Board of Governors at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Akeel is competing for the Democratic Party nomination at its...
February 27th, 20260DETROIT – The Wayne State University Board of Governors has unanimously elected Richard A. Bierschbach, J.D., as the university’s 14th president, effective immediately.
Bierschbach has led the university on an interim basis since September 17. Prior to that appointment, he served for more than eight years as dean of Wayne State...
February 6th, 20260DETROIT — A sitting Detroit judge and three other individuals are facing federal criminal charges in connection with the alleged embezzlement of nearly $300,000 from people under legal guardianship, through a fraudulent scheme that operated for several years before she became a judge.
According to federal court filings, Andrea...
February 6th, 20260DETROIT — Adam Hollier, a Democrat and U.S. Army paratrooper, announced he is suspending his campaign for Michigan secretary of state and pivoting to a run for State Senate District 3, a seat that spans Hamtramck, Highland Park and Detroit’s east side.
Hollier, 40, previously served in the State Senate representing the former...
January 9th, 20260DETROIT – In a clear sign of continued improvements in public safety in a city once known decades ago as the “crime capital” of the United States, 2025 saw Detroit record its lowest number of homicides since 1964, according to Police Chief Todd Bettison.
The city recorded 165 homicides last year, a 19 percent decline from the...
December 25th, 20250DETROIT – Just days before leaving office to focus on his campaign for governor of Michigan, outgoing Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan highlighted his administration’s historic achievement of eliminating approximately 47,000 abandoned homes across the city during a press conference held on Monday. He also pledged to continue investigations...
November 1st, 20250Francesca Albanese recognized for her courage in defending Palestinian rights; event spotlights Arab American advocates for justice and peace
DEARBORN — The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) held its annual “Spirit of Humanity” Awards Gala on Friday, October 24, at the Fairlane Banquet Center in Dearborn, honoring...
October 24th, 20250On behalf of an Arab American family whose then-7-year-old daughter was the victim of a throat-slashing attempt by a 74-year-old White man in a park in Detroit on October 8, 2024, attorney Nabih Ayad filed a civil lawsuit last week seeking $50 million in damages for the victim’s family.
The lawsuit states that the defendant, Gary...
September 26th, 20250DETROIT — After more than a month on paid administrative leave, Wayne State University School of Medicine Dean Dr. Wael Sakr will return to campus Monday, September 29, according to a university announcement.
In an email to faculty Thursday, Dr. Bernard Costello, WSU’s senior vice president for health affairs, confirmed Sakr’s...
September 19th, 20250Students defend Medical School Dean Wael Sakr
In developments that reflect escalating tensions inside Wayne State University, the student group Medical Students for Justice in Palestine issued a solidarity statement supporting the dean of the School of Medicine, Dr. Wael Sakr, following what they described as the arbitrary decision by...
September 6th, 20250DETROIT – America’s Community Council (ACC) – formerly known as the Arab American and Chaldean Council – celebrated its 46th annual gala on August 28 in downtown Detroit. The event honored prominent community leaders — including The Arab American News Publisher Osama Siblani, Mayor Mike Duggan, former Detroit Police Chief James...
August 23rd, 20250DETROIT – Wayne State University has placed the dean of its School of Medicine, Dr. Wael Sakr, a Syrian American physician, on paid administrative leave without offering any explanation for the move. The decision, which was announced in an email sent to faculty and staff, has sparked concern and unease among members of the...
July 11th, 20250Despite progress in several areas over the past few years, the "Motor City" has topped the list of the most stressed and psychologically burdened cities in the United States, according to an annual survey conducted by WalletHub, which included 182 of the largest cities across the country.
The survey was based on 39 indicators grouped...
April 24th, 20250By Carole Hawke
With a long presence and an expanding footprint, the Siena Literacy Center in West Detroit is a pillar of support for adult learners, including a growing West African immigrant population.
“Siena was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, who believe that anyone who shows interest in improving themselves or...
April 18th, 20250By Allison Torres Burtka
Seniors in Detroit often face challenges maintaining older homes. The nonprofit organization U SNAP BAC (which stands for United Streets Networking And Planning: Building A Community), on Detroit’s East Side, created a program to help with home repairs and to address needs that it often sees among the...
January 15th, 20250By Julie R. Riddle
In the Detroit neighborhood of Brightmoor, a group of pole dancing, crime-fighting, take-no-guff seniors believes their twilight years are for having fun, not sitting still.
Organizers started Seniors A Go-Go, a project of the Brightmoor Alliance, a few years ago, after a Brightmoor resident lost patience with...
December 30th, 20240By Jaishree Drepaul
For some Detroiters, the houses in their neighborhoods are more than just brick and mortar puzzled together. They're a complex Rubik's Cube of community challenges, historical and current, and of resilience over time. This is especially true for many people living in the city's O'Hair Park neighborhood, where today...
December 30th, 20240By Sarah Williams
Poppy red stairs splash from the white house. Planters of brilliant geraniums hang. A front porch stretches wide to offer shade and swing. It’s a place to call home, all right.
In the yard, Jeanine gardens to keep ancestors happy. Digging in the dirt is her least favorite thing, but the generations of women who...
November 15th, 20240DETROIT – After 12 years of leading the city of Detroit, Mayor Mike Duggan announced during a press conference Wednesday that he will not seek a fourth four-year term in next year’s municipal election. However, he did not specify his future political plans following the conclusion of his term at the end of 2025. Speculation has...
August 30th, 20240The Arab American Civil Rights League filed a federal complaint against Customs and Border Protection after an officer questioned Taiba Elgattani, who wears a hijab and uses a wheelchair, for three hours in the Metro Detroit Airport before sending her back to where she lives in the U.K. without alerting her family.
Elgattani flew from...
July 5th, 20240Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters is running in the Democratic primary election for Michigan's 13th U.S. House District seat, which represents parts of Detroit, Hamtramck, Romulus, Allen Park, Grosse Pointe and more.
Voters elected Waters to the Detroit City Council as one of two at-large members in 2021, where she has since...
June 14th, 20240DETROIT – In another sign of Michigan's crucial role in the U.S. presidential race, Republican presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to visit Detroit on Saturday, June 15. He is anticipated to participate in a roundtable discussion hosted by a local church in the northwest of the city and to be the keynote...
May 6th, 20240President Biden will return to Michigan this month to speak at the NAACP Detroit Branch's 69th annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, his campaign confirmed Wednesday.
The announcement came ahead of a planned Wednesday night campaign rally in Freeland, about 14 miles northwest of Saginaw, by former President Trump, the presumptive...
March 15th, 20240WASHINGTON, D.C. – Starting Wednesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in five U.S. cities started wearing body cameras as required by an executive order from President Biden.
ICE agents in Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, Buffalo and Baltimore are wearing the cameras in the first phase of deployment for the...
March 15th, 20240DEARBORN – Starbucks cafés in the Dearborn area are witnessing an unprecedented decline in customers’ demand for the chain’s most famous products, just as they are elsewhere in the U.S and around the world. This decline comes in conjunction with continuing campaigns on social media platforms to boycott the company, which is...
December 1st, 20230LANSING – Governor Whitmer has reappointed Portia Roberson, of Detroit, and Zenna Faraj Elhasan, of Dearborn, to serve second four-year terms on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. Both Roberson and Elhasan were originally appointed to the Commission in December of 2019, with their first terms ending this year on December 31. Their...
August 7th, 20230By David Sands
Woodbridge resident Mark Jones has always been curious about history, but lately he's been applying his interest to his own neighborhood.
Jones works as a data analyst with the city of Detroit. His specialty is working with geographic information systems (GIS), computer-based tools that can be used to collect,...
