Portrays the Arab community of Detroit, the largest population of Arabs living in North America (approximately 200,000 people of Arab descent representing Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the Middle East and West Asia), by publishing poems, memoirs, and analytical essays about these Arab Americans. Two areas dominate the lives of the immigrants and their descendants – the mainstream which represents America and the margin which means the ethnic world – and the intersection of these realms evolves into the unique experience of being an Arab in the United States. Consisting of contributions from twenty-five contributors, the six parts of the book cover: (1) qualities/quantities, describing the demographics of the Detroit community; (2) work, explaining how family businesses provide a way into American society; (3) religion, encompassing Chaldean and Copt cultures and the role of women in a Shia mosque; (4) politics, looking at how different immigrant groups regard their political identities; (5) life journeys, consisting of memoirs that highlight awareness of “otherness” and the search to belong either to the land of their ancestors or to the culture of the new homeland; and (6) ethnic futures, focusing on the continuing transition of the immigrants by presenting their art, the subculture of their food and ethnic markets, their musical heritage and dance, and genealogies to the non-Arab population. Personal stories and photographs show the experiences of Arab Americans as they assimilate, yet maintain their unique separateness. (IP-EZ)
