USC kicked off Arab American Heritage Month with an opening ceremony Monday celebrating the achievements and culture of Arab Americans.
The event included live music, dance performances and classic Arab foods for attendees to enjoy, bringing together a tight-knit group that students referred to as their “family.”
“This community means, honestly, everything. These are my friends, my family, my brothers, sister[s],” said Abdallah Khlifat, a junior economics and data science major and the Assistant Director of the Middle Eastern North African Student Assembly. “The recognition of our students, Arab Americans, is relatively very new, so seeing stuff like this happen brings a smile to people’s faces.”
While the first celebrations of the Arab American identity began in the 1980s, National Arab American History Month (NAAHM) was not established until 2017. The movement towards a designated month for NAAHM was led by the Arab America and Arab American Foundation.
However, only a handful of states recognized the initiative at the time.
In 2021, President Biden officially recognized April as NAAHM —the first acknowledgment by an American President. The following year, Congress, the U.S. Department of State and 45 state governors issued proclamations commemorating the initiative.
“Arab Heritage Month is like any other month in the U.S., but for Arab Americans specifically, it’s just something more special just because a lot of Arab Americans are sons of immigrants or immigrants themselves,” said Monira Alkidim, a sophomore industrial engineering student. “It’s honestly a way to connect back to your culture and back [to] your country.”
Arab Americans came in three waves from Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa starting in 1880, according to the Arab American Institute.
Now, there are an estimated 3.7 million Arab Americans in the United States with more than 85% of them being U.S. citizens.
“I just think that our culture is so rich, there’s so much to think about, learn about, and practice. I just use this month to practice cultural things and appreciate my history and what it means to be Arab,” Alkidim said.
USC will host a number of events this month to commemorate NAAHM, including a Middle Eastern North African (MENA) art exhibit, a MENA community dinner and a Mosaic Lamp Workshop.
“I think this definitely means…a recognition of our identity and what we mean to be American, but also a connection to a culture that’s really important to us and impacts our identity,” said Zaina Dabbous, a sophomore communications major. “I think that negative portrayals of our culture are what happens in the media all the time, but I think this event is really special to students because it shows a beautiful part of our identity.”
Students hope that USC will continue to give the community more opportunities to further acknowledge and uplift the Arab American heritage on campus.
“It’s definitely really great to know that this school is allowing us to have a platform to show our culture and push back against those negative narratives of our people,” Dabbous said. “I think [USC] should just keep providing us a platform and a fair space and a platform to definitely keep sharing our voice and sharing our culture and our diversity.”