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AAI in the News

Celebrating Arab Americans in Public Life

By Kenwah Dabaja
Forum and Link
Posted on Thursday August 11, 2005

On July 29th I sat in the Arab American National Museum among community leaders and activists, and I could not help but feel a sense of pride and power. On this day the Arab American Institute (AAI) helped us pay a long overdue tribute to individuals in public life.

Arab Americans in politics have come a long way over the years, and it is largely in part due to the efforts of organizations like the AAI and individuals that stood up in the face of adversity.

These people gave us not only the chance to develop into a political force—they gave us the chance to aspire. Twenty, ten, even five years ago, it would have been hard to even contemplate running for office. Now it has become a choice with endless opportunities.

In Dearborn alone, five out of the six Arab American candidates made it through the primaries. This is monumental and we have to keep up the momentum through the general elections in November.

Here I come again with my signature flip side of the coin. Yes, we have come a very long way, but there is a lot of work yet to be done. We need to get out and vote, we need to continuously engage in the political process, and we must support our organizations and candidates more consistently.

This is the part where I try to encourage cooperation and unity—my God, I am starting to sound like a broken record. But criticism absent a solution is fruitless, not to mention counterproductive.

Our organizations need our help. Assisting candidates by getting out the vote and educating people cannot be done for free. The AAI has an office that is being run by minimal staff primarily due to financial constraints…shame on us! I also don’t see any other political organizations with a fully operational office either.

In lieu of financial support for those who cannot, volunteering is an alternative. I don’t think it is unreasonable to ask for eight hours over a week period to help either knock on doors or stand at the polls. Last year, elections were during Ramadan and I was driving around to volunteers that stayed through Iftar with dates and water—what a great feeling to be working with such dedicated individuals.

If you are sick of me writing these “we need to unite and support each other” articles, then get out your checkbooks.

And congratulations to all Arab Americans candidates, politicians and activists—you have made a tremendous impact on our lives.