USC kicked off Arab American Heritage Month on Monday, April 3, at Hahn Plaza, featuring remarks from members of the Middle Eastern North African Student Assembly (MENASA) and an energetic belly dancers performance.
For environmental engineering major Monira Alkadim, the university’s celebration of Arab American Heritage Month makes her feel like her community is celebrated, especially as an international student.
“I left a community filled with Arabs, and I came here to a community with many identities and nationalities,” she said. “The fact that USC is now recognizing our month and embracing our culture, it gets us one step closer to advocating for what we need, our rights, our recognition and spreading positive light about our culture.”
Students were joined by Arabic speakers who came from different areas of Los Angeles. People were singing and dancing at the event, and there were big lines to try the food and tea.
Nour Myra Geha, international relations major and the co-director of MENASA, said that having the university formally recognize a month of celebration for Arab Americans is a true honor.
“We’re so thankful. We started [last year] with a $100 budget for the entire event,” Myra Geha said. “Knowing that all of us worked so hard with the university to make this much bigger and much nicer shows that perseverance and determination get you places because you always need to start small.”
Last year, the celebration had no stage, no speaker and few features to highlight the festival, according to Myra Geha. This year, the event drew larger support, with event speakers including university president Carol L. Folt, Arab American Civil Council research fellow Amin Nash, and USC Marshall associate professor Christine El Haddad.
“It means so much to me because I think this is the first time people have come to me and said, ‘Oh my God, there is Arabic music on campus,‘” Geha said. “I’m very grateful for that.”
The event comes a year after President Joe Biden became the first president to formally recognize April as Arab American Heritage Month. This year, Biden penned a letter to further acknowledge Arab Americans for their contributions to the United States while opening a broader conversation around what it means to be Arab American.
For years, organizations like the Arab American Institute have advocated for formal recognition of the Arab identity within the Census to get a more precise picture of the community within the US and the issues they face.
“It’s not just a box," said Anthony Khoory, Co-Director of MENASA. "(Is) a reflection of the diversity of a place, being there validates who we are.”
According to the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, an ‘Arab’ refers mainly to someone who speaks Arabic as their first language. Arab is not considered a race, but Arabs are connected through common history and culture. Community members considered Arab to be an ethnicity.
Twenty-two countries are considered Arab countries by the ADC, including Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The ADC also includes Kurds, Armenians, Berbers and others within the Arab classification, many of whom have been part of the ethnic diversity within Arab countries for centuries.
At USC, there is little information on the number of Arabic-identifying students attending the university. Arab and Middle Eastern students often cannot identify themselves as such in official documents.
Their next event will be a Dabke Night with the Lebanese Club on April 5 at 8 p.m. in STU 100. You can find the full calendar here.