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 23rd, 20210This article also appears in Metro Times Detroit through a partnership with the Race and Justice Reporting Initiative and the Detroit Equity Action Lab at the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights. It has been edited for style.
DEARBORN — Dave Serio, a third-generation Sicilian Lebanese American, came to better understand his Arab...
September 16th, 20210DEARBORN — The tragic kidnapping, torture and murder in Yemen of Abdulmalek Alsanabani, a Yemeni student who resided in California, sparked outrage and protests in the U.S. and Yemen this week.
Alsanabani was a 25-year-old living in Fresno, California and had decided to take an often dangerous journey across the south of Yemen to...
August 24th, 20210Waving summer goodbye is bittersweet, but the new school year is right around the corner and your schools are eager to welcome students back. You may find your family is already in back-to-school-mode, or maybe your children are trying to make summer last as long as possible. Either way, preparing for the school year can be simple.
As...
August 3rd, 20212Correction: And earlier version of this story mistakenly noted that Amer Ghalib is the first Muslim primary front-runner in a Hamtramck mayoral election. Abdul Algazali beat current Karen Majewski by 31 votes in 2013's primary election.
HAMTRAMCK — Yemeni American mayoral candidate Amer Ghalib became the front-runner in the Aug. 3...
July 30th, 20210HAMTRMACK — The primary election to determine Hamtramck's next mayor is just days away. The Arab American News reached to all four mayoral candidates to ask questions regarding the city's financial challenges, property taxes, marijuana dispensaries and more.
Only Asm Rahman and Mayor Karen Majewski returned responses this week,...
July 29th, 20210The following information, provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is up-to-date as of July.
Survivors who registered with FEMA for disaster assistance following the June severe storms and flooding will receive a letter explaining FEMA’s eligibility decision and the reason for that decision.
FEMA decision...
July 29th, 20210LANSING – On Thursday, Governor Whitmer announced a plan to utilize $10 million in state general funds to provide emergency relief to households impacted by June 25-26's heavy rainfall and flooding.
The funding will be allocated to the Detroit and Wayne and Washtenaw Counties to set up "residential gap funding grant...
July 24th, 20210Four candidates for Hamtramck mayor and eight for City Council are vying for four-year terms and will face off in the Aug. 3 primary election, after which the mayoral race will come down to two candidates and the Council race to six.
The city is also asking voters to decide on a ballot proposal which would increase property taxes to...
July 17th, 20210DEARBORN – On Tuesday, the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) announced endorsements for the local 2021 primary elections.
Formed in 1998 by a group of Arab American professionals, AAPAC is a non-partisan political organization that encourages Arab American participation in the political process and encourages Arab...
July 14th, 20210HAMTRAMCK — Hamtramck Public Schools (HPS) announced this week the purchase of additional property, the second such purchase this year.
The district, which services much of the area's diverse population, including Yemeni and Bengali families, has finalized the purchase of the property at 8633 Joseph Campau Avenue. This comes after...
June 16th, 20210DEARBORN/HAMTRAMCK — The Yemeni-American Michigan Democratic Caucus (YAMDC) announced its endorsements for Dearborn and Hamtramck City Council and mayoral candidates.
For City Council in Dearborn, the group is endorsing Mustapha Hammoud, Samraa Luqman, Khodr Farhat, Khalil Othman, Kamal Alsawafy, Saeid Alawathy and incumbent Leslie...
June 2nd, 20210LANSING — Governor Whitmer announced this week grants awarded to different Michigan communities to help upgrade drinking water infrastructure towards safe, affordable tap water across the state.
The grants come under the umbrella of the MI Clean Water plan. Under that plan Hamtramck receives $188,315 under the Drinking Water...
May 26th, 20210LANSING — On Wednesday, Governor Whitmer announced five appointments to the Commission on Middle Eastern American Affairs.
Of the five, three are reappointments and two are new appointees, namely Hamtramck Public Schools Superintendent Jaleelah Ahmed of Dearborn Heights and Dearborn’s Amal Berry, senior manager of global...
May 19th, 20210HAMTRAMCK — The city of Hamtramck, known to be the nation’s first Muslim-majority city, is the subject of a documentary set to makes its broadcast premiere on the WORLD Channel (formerly PBS WORLD) on Tuesday, May 25.
A synopsis for the documentary, titled Hamtramck, USA, says it "goes behind the scenes of small-town politics,"...
May 15th, 20210HAMTRAMCK — Hamtramck Public Schools (HPS) is partnering with Rite Aid to provide vaccinations for individuals 12 and older at the Hamtramck Community Center at 11350 Charest St. this upcoming Thursday. HPS recommends families schedule an appointment to receive a COVID-19 shot.
The clinic is offering the first dose of the Pfizer...
May 7th, 20210LANSING — In an effort to address exacerbated conditions faced by Michiganders since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, State Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) and four other Detroit first-term House colleagues introduced a five bill package this week.
Aiyash joined Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.), Helena Scott (D-Highland Park),...
April 22nd, 20210HAMTRAMCK — After Tuesday’s filing deadline for the upcoming races for Hamtramck mayor and three Council seats, the city now has a tentative list of candidates for an important 2021 election.
The following candidate list is up to date as of Saturday, as candidates had the option to drop out by Friday, April 23.
Hamtramck City...
April 22nd, 20210DETROIT — According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, a Hamtramck man has been charged with the sexual assault of a young Detroit girl.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Fsle Saoeh, 38, of Hamtramck, with two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree on Tuesday. A fourth degree criminal sexual conduct charge has a...
April 20th, 20210WASHINGTON, D.C. — Though increased vaccination efforts in the U.S. continue giving hope, some parts of the county are still in the grip of COVID-19 surges, hospitalizations and deaths.
Public health officials say there are several factors for the continuing surge, even though COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Americans’...
April 17th, 20210Since Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency last March, Dr. Zafar Shamoon, chief of emergency services at Beaumont Hospital-Dearborn, has witnessed first-hand the precariously rising cases of COVID-19 in the community.
“Dearborn has been hit very hard," Shamoon told The Arab American News. "This is one of the busiest, if...
April 14th, 20210HAMTRAMCK — Five Hamtramck Public Schools students recently competed in the Optimist Club of Downtown Detroit's Annual Oratorical Virtual Competition on March 17, with three students placing in first, second and third place.
First-place winner Nura Uddin will be advancing to the next level of the competition, along with...
April 8th, 20210MICHIGAN — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced on Thursday it is expanding its COVID-19 vaccination efforts by increasing mobile vaccine clinics and bringing vaccines to participating vaccines.
Starting April 14, expanded mobile clinics in Detroit and Hamtramck will offer vaccine...
April 3rd, 20211
It started at childhood. “Yemeni, Yemeni, shower is my enemy.” At 9-years-old, these unforgettable words, among others, were often muttered by my fellow Arab classmates. I painfully recall standing there, frozen stiff as tears of shame and confusion threatened to spill over. As a young Yemeniya, I could not comprehend why I was...
March 27th, 20211DEARBORN — The Dearborn City Council agreed to table four ordinances pertaining to zoning regulations on medical marijuana grow and sell facilities.
Councilman Mike Sareini said it’s important to recognize the three different acts regarding marijuana in the state. Dearborn opted out of the state's most recent medical and...
March 25th, 20210DEARBORN — In the last year, many international exchange students were unable to come to the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
World Link, an organization that links students from different parts of the world to host families, provided these students with a virtual program linking each student with an American host family and...
March 20th, 20210DETROIT - 2021 should be a transformative year for HUDA Clinic in Detroit.
Located near the Highland Park enclave in Detroit, the free clinic has been providing essential medical and psychological care services to the low income communities in Detroit and Hamtramck for almost two decades. The urgency of that care only intensified...
December 4th, 20200HAMTRAMCK — Construction on a third recreational marijuana retail outlet appears to be underway in Hamtramck, just as a majority of its City Council prepares to prohibit such establishments in the city.
The building is located on Jos Campau and Commor Street, and was the former location of Three Star BBQ. Building records show Puff...
