Nirmeen

My name is Nirmeen Saleh, I'm 16 years old, still attending high school. Over the summer, I was involved in a radio program for 3 weeks. The instructors from the program asked us to record our teenage lives and how we were affected by September 11.

The September 11 incident didn't affect me, but this program made me see how other people were affected by it. Also in this program I was doing this project with two (2) other teenagers, Ghufran Al-shamiry, and Mohamed Isa. These 2 teenagers made good points and said things I thought I would never hear about September 11. I guess nobody can predict the future. But everybody should stand for something. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover. But you should always be ready for the unexpected. The instructors of this project, Rola Nashef, Tamar Charney, and David Scobey, were great with the questions they asked us that we had to answer. My instructors were great through out the whole project. Big huge thanks to them. (Thanks). All I gotta say is do not assume things before you ask.

Mike

I enjoy writing cause I'm able to capture my feelings in verse form. When I recollect my feelings through reading what I wrote, it helps me understand that one moment I might have overcome.

Guided Star

Surely you know that lumination which thus
skyscraps heaven abroad is desendent upon a
shooting star the dark mellow shadow cast
upon my life is fading away like the day
which intertwines with night as I glance at
a supersaturated, shimmering, and piercing
ray of light surely then I am inclined to
rationalize and compromise that life shall
overpower an obscure shadow which has an
infinite distance and unknown duration
therefore twinkle twinkle little star
suspended far above my world skyscraping
heaven abroad as you shoot through an opaque
sky guiding me away from an uncertain astray
path

©2002 Mike Nigel Isa

Ghufran

First and foremost, I dearly want to thank Tamar, David, Rola and Matt for all they have done for us. Having the recorder in my hands made me feel free to express what I believe without being criticized or judged. Through this entire process I tried to explain myself as much as I could.

Having to carry the recorder around everywhere was one challenge, but trying to think about what I am going to say next was another. One great advantage from doing this is that hopefully people will have a different view of Arab Americans since September 11.

Through this project, I got the chance to let people know that we are not terrorists, and to ask the media to stop labeling us. I want people to realize the hate that they carry, it’s significance is trash, and it will go no where but the garbage can! It will only continue to cause problems and racism.

Together we shall over come all fears inside of us. We shall overcome all problems together as brothers, sisters and friends.

It was a great experience and opportunity to see myself representing Arabs living here in Dearborn. Thanks again.

Rola

As a result of the civil war in Lebanon, my family and I immigrated to Lansing Michigan in 1978 where my father built cars at General Motors. Even though we grew up isolated from the larger Arab immigrant community in Detroit, we were very rooted in our culture through our parents and well adjusted in our neighborhoods where kids just accepted us for being kids.

In January of 1991, I was seventeen years old attending a typical American suburban high school where I was considered "different" as a result of my alternative thoughts rather than my ethnicity. One day I walked into the girls' restroom to find graffiti spray-painted all over the walls stating, "Arabs go home". As I stood there reading, I realized that I was the "Arab" to whom they were referring. Soon walked in three "American" girls from my class who lived in my own neighborhood. As they said hello to me, they noticed the graffiti on the walls and became immediately inspired. So inspired, they took out lipstick and contributed their own racist thoughts to the bathroom wall.

That was eleven years ago during the Gulf War. As an Arab living in America after September 11, I was proud to participate in a project that gave this second generation a stronger voice in their struggle against racism.

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