WorldView Good Reads: Off the Press for April 2021
Published: May 5, 2021
In honor of April being officially designated as National Arab American Heritage Month by the U.S. State Department for the first time this year, we offer Good Reads and links that highlight the many contributions, and also the challenges, of Arab Americans in the United States.
As a senior program advisor for Qatar Foundation International (a longtime supporter of the Arabic Language Village), Carine Allaf poignantly describes her multicultural identity as an Arab living in America, from her own childhood to now raising her two children in Arabic.
Published in 2009, Moustafa Bayoumi traces the lives of seven young Arab-American adults in Brooklyn in How Does it Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America. Bayoumi sensitively demonstrates the struggles of young Arabs and young Muslims as they navigate often being perceived as the enemy in their workplace, or their own backyard.
Check out the virtual galleries at the Arab American National Museum to learn about Arab contributions to American culture and society, to hear stories of migration, and to learn about Arab communities in the U.S. today.
Four Arab-American women have distinguished themselves in their respective sports: running, boxing, weightlifting and race car driving. Read about them here.
Consider watching one of eight films nominated for the Golden Globe category of Best Foreign Language Film from the Arab cinematographic region. Films represent Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan and Syria.
And if you’re in the Twin Cities area, consider attending one of many events sponsored by Mizna, a 20-year organization that is dedicated to being a space for Arab, Muslim and other regional artists to showcase their narratives and artistic expression. They also publish the only Arab-American literary and art journal in the United States.
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