Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream

Contents

Contents Acknowledgments 9 Contributors 11 On Margins and Mainstreams Andrew Shryock and Nabeel Abraham 15 PART 1 • QUALITIES/QUANTITIES Introduction 39 8 Houses from the Birthplace of Henry Ford Hayan Charara 45 Building the Infrastructure of Arab American Identity in Detroit A Short History of ACCESS and the Community It Serves Karen Rignall 49 A Demographic Portrait of Arab Detroit Kim Schopmeyer 61 PART 2 •WORK Introduction 95 You Only Exist Inside Me Lawrence Joseph 99 In the Tenth Year of War Lawrence Joseph 101 Contents Dumb like a Fox Don Unis 103 Growing up in Detroit An Immigrant Grocer's Daughter AlixaNaff 107 Fandy Kevin Rashid 149 Behind the Bulletproof Glass Iraqi Chaldean Store Ownership in Metropolitan Detroit Gary C. David 151 There I Am Again Lawrence Joseph 179 On the Road with Bob Peddling in the Early Sixties Nabeel Abraham 181 PART 3 •RELIGION Introduction 199 What They Did Hayan Charara 203 The American Journey of a Chaldean from Iraq Sharkey Haddad 205 Egyptian Copts in Detroit Ethnic Community and Long-Distance Nationalism Richard R.Jones 219 Finding the Straight Path A Conversation with Mohsen and Lila Amen about Faith, Life, and Family in Dearborn Sally Howell 241 CONTENTS Arab Detroit's "American" Mosque Nabeel Abraham 279 PART 4 •POLITICS Introduction 313 Aliya Hassan 317 Important Things to an Eight Year Old For Haji Aliya Hassan Saladin Ahmed 319 After Karbala Iraqi Refugees in Detroit Linda S. Walbridge and T. M. Aziz 321 Politics, Pragmatism, and the "Arab Vote" A Conversation with Maya Berry Sally Howell 343 Status Refugee Amira Saad 373 PART 5 • LIFE JOURNEYS Introduction 377 Daughter of America Shams Alwujude 381 Coming Home Lara Hamza 391 Becoming the Center of Mystery Hayan Charara 401 Contents To Palestine and Back Quest for Place Nabeel Abraham 425 Hope, Figs, and a Place Called Home Jeffrey Ghannam 463 What's Not in a Name Marilynn Rashid 471 PART 6 • ETHNIC FUTURES Introduction 483 The Art and Artistry of Arab Detroit Changing Traditions in a New World Sally Howell 487 Continuity and Adaptation in Arab American Foodways William G. Lockwood and Yvonne R. Lockwood 515 The Sound of Culture, The Structure of Tradition Musicians' Work in Arab Detroit Anne Rasmussen 551 Family Resemblances Kinship and Community in Arab Detroit Andrew Shryock 573 Steps Naomi Shihab Nye 611 Index 613 ...