“Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the Terror Decade” – a book co-edited by Dr. Nabeel Abraham, director of the Henry Ford Community College (HFCC) Honors Program – recently won the Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award on the heels of two other awards.
Published by Wayne University Press in time for the 10th anniversary in 2011 of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, “Arab Detroit 9/11” won the Independent Publishers Book Award and the Midwest Book Award prior to the Choice Award in 2012.
“I didn’t even have a clue these awards were even possible. It was one of those ‘wow!’ moments where you feel a couple of feet taller, then shrink back after an hour or so. It’s an honor,” said Abraham.
Abraham’s co-editors on “Arab Detroit 9/11” were Sally Howell of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Andrew J. Shryock of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. The book serves as a follow-up to Abraham and Shryock’s prior book “Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream,” published in 2000. “Arab Detroit 9/11” chronicled the trauma, unexpected political gain and moral ambiguities faced by Arab Americans in Detroit in a post-9/11 world.
Abraham, Howell and Shryock assembled a diverse group of contributors, many of whom teach at prestigious educational institutions such as Princeton University, Michigan State University, and the University of Michigan. The majority of the contributors are Palestinian, Yemeni, Iraqi, Lebanese; Muslim and Christian; and American-born and immigrants. The book is divided into six sections, starting with wide-angle views of Arab Detroit, looking first at how the community fits within the greater Detroit area as a whole, then presenting portraits of Arab Detroit’s key ethno-national and religious subgroups. Personal accounts of life in the terror decade examine practical matters such as family life, neighborhood interactions, going to school, and domestic and international travel.
“The scope and incisive commentary of the essays collected in ‘Arab Detroit 9/11’ make the book an indispensible resource to anyone with an interest in the complexity and significance of ethnic pluralism in America. The volume meticulously profiles the rich cultural and religious heritage that Arab Americans have brought to America, and rigorously profiles the alienation that this community has endured,” said Dr. Michael Daher, director of the HFCC Arab Cultural Studies Program.

For more information about “Arab Detroit 9/11,” visit http://wsupress.wayne.edu/books/1262/Arab-Detroit-911, or call Wayne State University Press at 800.978.7323.