National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM) is upon us! For the entirety of April, this month is observed to celebrate Arab Americans and Arab speaking Americans, their countries, and their rich cultures. This year, this Heritage Month couldn’t come at a better time as it coincides with the holy month of Ramadan, the most important month in Islam; the religion of the majority of Arabs. So, on that note, we better take this chance to know more about the history of Arab Heritage Month and all the ways it’s celebrated in the USA. and maybe find even new ways to observe it.
Beginnings
Starting in the 1990s different American states started celebrating Arab Heritage Month with no coordination or planning, just different places at different times. While the spirit is there, synchronization is key to getting the recognition and change that’s needed to appreciate Arab Americans fully. So, in 2017 Arab American organizations asked Congresswoman Debbie Dingell to issue a congressional resolution proclaiming National Arab American Heritage Month. This was finally a huge step in the right direction in claiming April as National Arab Heritage Month, and it surely wasn’t the last.
Changes
A very important and long overdue final step on the road to recognition is what young Syrian-American CEO Pierre Subeh added to the cause. He orchestrated a self-funded social awareness campaign with over 250 billboards across the country asking the Federal government to recognize April as the National Arab American Heritage Month and issue an official proclamation. His social change campaign called the recognition to be “critical as it celebrates Middle Eastern heritage in combatting post-9/11 anti-Arab sentiments and recognizing the social difficulties that Arab Americans face every day in their communities.” Sure enough, last year, on April 1st, the U.S. Department of State, published a proclamation that achieved federal recognition of the month of April as NAAHM.
The efforts of Subeh show us that one is all and with the right decisions and maximum efforts you can make the world’s difference to a group of people that are widely misrepresented by the media and always discriminate against by the public.
Celebrations
We don’t have to look far on the web to find different celebrations of Arab Heritage across the US, from college students in their sections on campus offering to help female students to try wrapping a Hijab with different styles from the MENA region, to social experiments by Arab American vloggers and YouTubers running around the streets of New York filming people’s reactions and surprise to a lot of pieces of information about Arab culture and religions.
Even more so, Ramadan and National Heritage Month are both in April this year. The holiest month in the Islamic religion might be a very good opportunity to celebrate this year’s heritage month by learning more about the major religion of the Arab world, try fasting one day in Ramadan to get a feel of the perseverance needed to get through the whole month. And differently, try different hearty dishes from the Arab world that are only prepared during Ramadan.