DEARBORN — Nabeel Abraham, a professor of anthology and director of the Honors Program at Henry Ford Community College, is one of three editors of the book “Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade.”
Following 9/11, Dearborn’s Arab and Muslim communities experienced heightened prejudice, political backlash and government surveillance. However, there have been some unexpected yet positive consequences in the wake of 9/11, Abraham said.
Abraham, along with editors Sally Howell and Andrew Shryock, assembled a diverse group of contributors, many of whom teach at educational institutions such as University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Princeton University. The majority of the contributors are Palestinian, Yemeni, Iraqi, Lebanese; Muslim and Christian; and American-born and immigrants. All of them offer a unique perspective, Abraham said.
HFCC Associate Dean of Social Science Kim Schopmeyer also contributes an essay to the book.
The book is divided into six sections, starting with wide-angle views of Arab Detroit, looking first at how the community fits within the greater Detroit area as a whole, then presenting portraits of Arab Detroit’s key ethno-national and religious subgroups. Personal accounts of life in the terror decade examine practical matters such as family life, neighborhood interactions, going to school, domestic and international travel.
“Arab Detroit 9/11” is a sequel to the book “Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream,” which Abraham and Shyrock edited in 2000.
“The previous book chronicled the Arab American experience in America over the course of a century,” Abraham said, “whereas this book is situated in one decade – the terror decade – and focuses on one question: How has life changed for Arab Americans and Muslims in a post-9/11 world in Detroit?”
HFCC’s Arab Cultural Studies Program will host a panel discussion noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 21 to talk about the impact of 9/11 over the past 10 years. This event will take place in Room L-14 of the HFCC Liberal Studies Building. Abraham and his co-editors will serve on this panel.
For more information on the panel discussion, contact Michael Daher, director of the HFCC Arab Cultural Studies Program, at (313) 845-6457 or via email at [email protected].
For more information about “Arab Detroit 9/11,” go to the Wayne State University Press website, www.wsupress.wayne.edu/.