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TV's 'Arab American Stories' Series Brings Viewers Close to Home
Two-thirds of all Arab-Americans are concentrated in 10 states, one-third of them in California, New York and Michigan. Detroit is in the top five metropolitan areas of Arab-American concentration.
When Detroit Public Television came to Birmingham’s Hoda Succar, former president of the American Syrian Cultural Association, she put her Rolodex to work to help the station put together a 13-part series.
Detroit Public Television soon will premiere, “Arab American Stories.” Several of the stories included in the series are about Michigan residents and Succar played a big part in helping find story participants and raise funds for DPTV to present their stories.
The series is heavily backed by Michigan sponsors. DPTV is piloting the effort, in national partnership with PBS, so Succar’s efforts likely will be viewed on Public TV stations around the country.
Hosted by NPR’s Neda Ulaby, the series will profile Arab-Americans making an impact in their communities, professions, families and the world at large. The series covers many of the 22 countries of Arab origin, as well as diverse beliefs, backgrounds and length of citizenship in the United States.
In support of the upcoming premiere, Detroit Public Television also is hosting a Reception Screening and Discussion, where attendees can meet the producer, Alicia Sams, who produced the Emmy-award winning documentary “By The People: The Election of Barack Obama” for HBO.
“Arab American Stories” is a 13-part series presented by Detroit Public Television that explores the diversity of the Arab-American experience. Each half-hour features three short, character-driven documentaries produced by a variety of independent filmmakers which profile Arab-Americans making an impact in their communities, their professions, their families or the world at large.
The 39 stories that make up the series feature people of all walks of life who epitomize the Arab-American experience: artists, scientists, musicians, chefs, actors, businessman, policeman, inventors, teachers.
The series is national in scope, but its production was initiated by the Michigan Arab-American community.
Michigan stories include Dearborn-based Moose Scheib, founder of Loanmod.com, which helps homeowners facing foreclosure avoid losing their homes; Nawal Motawi, founder of the Ann Arbor-based craftsman tile manufacturers Motawi Tileworks; Abdul “Ace” Montaser, 95.5-FM DJ and former U.S. Marine; Father George Shalhoub, of the Basilica of St. Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Livonia; internationally recognized artist Adnan Charara, who is building a new studio and gallery space that is part of the re-vitalization of midtown Detroit; Maha Freij, the COO of ACCESS, the largest Arab-American services organization in the country and Dr. Imad Mahawili, whose alternative energy company, Windtronics, has headquarterd in Michigan, though he has relocated its research and development facility in Napa, Calif.
Arab-Americans come from 22 different nations, practice multiple religions, and reside in urban and rural areas in all 50 states. Some are the descendants of immigrant homesteaders in far-flung states such as North Dakota and Oklahoma. Others are 20th century arrivals who came looking for educational or economic opportunity, or refugees fleeing wars and oppression.
While neither a history nor a fully comprehensive portrait of Arab-Americans, “Arab American Stories” will show how Arab-Americans are woven into the fabric of American life.
Dearborn Press & Guide