Arab American Heritage Month, Ramadan feted by Journalists and elected officials
The Arab American Democratic Club hosted a forum of journalists and elected officials and community leaders on Thursday April 22, 2021 to discuss both Ramadan and Arab American Heritage Month (April).
The panel included a video message offering both Ramadan Kareem messages and a celebratory salute for Arab American Heritage Month from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.
Also joining to discuss the recent elections and services that are available to all residents including Arab American was Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar, and Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Tammy Wendt who easily won theDemocratic nomination nation for the office and unseated the incumbent Republican in the office.
Journalists who participated offering words of advice to Arab Americans included Jon DePaolis, the publisher of the Richards Free Press, Yasmeen Sheikah, reporter with the Patch.com online news site, and Steve Metsch, a veteran journalist who works for the Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News and the Naperville Sun.
Wesam Shahed working with Sonia Khalil also announced the founding of an Arab Youth Network to help young people int he Arab American community participate in local government, understand communications and even run for office.
And the AADC salted Hassan Nijem, the president of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce which as instrumental in saving the jobs of nearly 300 workers employed by 25 Hookah Lounges, most run by Arab American businessmen. The establishments would have been shut down under the terms of a new law introduced to the Chicago City Council last year that was to prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco.
But after Nijem reached out to Chicago Alderwoman Silvana Tabares and explained how the law would inadvertently hurt Arab Americans an even hurt the city of Chicago by eliminating nearly 300 jobs, Tabares and the City Council rewrote the ordinance to exclude those businesses.
Click this link to watch the forum on Facebook or use the widget below:
AADC serves the political interests of the Arab American residents of Illinois and businesses and we are proud of our accomplishments. We regularly meet with elected officials, mayors, state senators, state representatives, U.S. Representatives, U.S. Senators, governors, and presidential candidates.
AADC is the only registered Arab American political organization doing this type of service in and for the community.
Our team is made of individuals who believe the best way to reach our community is by offering outreach functions and informative events. We believe that by working together and be connected we can have consistent outcomes.
For more information visit the AADC Facebook page by clicking here.
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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