UB to celebrate National Arab American Heritage Month

UB will mark its inaugural celebration of April’s designation as National Arab American Heritage Month and Eid Al Fitr, which concludes the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic faith, with a special event on April 25.

The event, sponsored by the Office of Inclusive Excellence and the Professional Staff Senate’s Inclusion and Diversity Committee, will take place from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Landmark Room, 210 Student Union, North Campus.

All members of the UB community are invited to attend the free event. Reservations are requested to facilitate event planning.

The main element of the celebration is a panel discussion with local Arab American leaders, who will talk about the achievements of the local Arab American community and why it’s important for the U.S. to observe National Arab American Heritage Month, which celebrates the community’s rich heritage and numerous contributions to society.

The panel will be moderated by Shareefa Albanna, startup success manager, UB Business & Entrepreneur Partnerships, and a member of the board of the Arab America Foundation, which launched the initiative to establish a National Arab American Heritage Month in 2017. President Biden is the first U.S. president to recognize April as Arab American Heritage Month.

The panelists:

• Mohamed Munassar, founder of Chiro First Wellness Center, member of the Lackawanna City School Board, Lackawanna City committeeman and board member of ACCESS of WNY, an organization providing economic and social services to the local Arab American community.
• Nadia Abdallah, senior operations manager, LaunchNY.
• Hoda Moussa, contracts and grants specialist, Business & Entrepreneur Partnerships.

Jessica Byerly, associate director of UB’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and co-chair of the PSS Inclusion and Diversity Committee, says that in general, Arab American achievements have often been overlooked in American society at large. “Discussions about race in America often don’t capture the Arab American experience, even though individuals who identify as being of Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) descent may experience discrimination and harassment similar to other non-white racial identities,” Byerly says. In fact, she points out, there’s not yet an official federal race definition or option on the U.S. Census to accurately quantify the size of the Arab American population in the U.S, although she says she’s hopeful this will be implemented with the 2030 Census.

“This is only the second year President Biden has officially recognized April as Arab American Heritage Month and the act of doing so provides a dedicated time and space to celebrate Arab American achievements in our communities,” Byerly notes. “UB is proud to join this effort to highlight some of our local leaders and achievements.”

UB has “fostered and accelerated the growth of a larger-than-life population” of Arab Americans at the university, adds Albanna. “Entrepreneurs, physicians, tech experts, politicians, educators and more have called UB home,” she says. “Thanks to the UB Office of Inclusive Excellence and the UB PSS, Arab Americans will be recognized, honored and celebrated in a major way.”