Press release below from Arab-American National Museum

There was a standing-room-only audience at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan on December 10 when author Alia Malek came to speak about her new book, A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories (Free Press; 2009; $25), which revisits key moments in recent American history as experienced by Arab Americans.

C-SPAN2 cameras were there, and at 5:15 p.m. Eastern this Sunday, January 10, Malek’s talk will premiere on the cable channel’s “Book TV” program. (Consult your cable provider’s channel guide to locate C-SPAN2 in your area). The program will re-air several times; visit www.booktv.org for weekly schedules.

In A Country Called Amreeka, Malek weaves the stories of the Arab American community into the story of America, using lively and moving narratives of real people, including several metro Detroit residents, who have lived history all around the country. Among the book’s metro Detroit subjects are Ron Amen, recently appointed development director for the City of Dearborn Heights; Ahmad Chebbani, chairman of the Dearborn-based American Arab Chamber of Commerce; Amal Berry-Brown of Comerica Bank; and attorneys Michael Berry and Bill Swor.

Alia Malek is an author and civil rights lawyer. Born in Baltimore to Syrian immigrant parents, she began her legal career as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. After working in the legal field in the U.S., Lebanon and the West Bank, Malek, who has degrees from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities, earned her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her reportage has appeared in Salon, The Columbia Journalism Review and The New York Times. A Country Called Amreeka is her first book.

Further details are available at www.ACountryCalledAmreeka.com

The U.S. Census bureau already has opened a new Dearborn office in the Westborn Mall as it prepares for the 2010 Census and now the cities of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights are doing their part to make sure all residents are counted.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. and Dearborn Heights Mayor Dan Paletko have invited leaders from neighborhood associations, service clubs, faith-based organizations and educational institutions to a special presentation Wednesday evening to hear a presentation from the local office of the U.S. Census Bureau about how to help ensure all residents are counted during the 2010 Census.

The census – a once-in-a-decade event – has a big impact on funding for cities across America, which is why there is such urgency around it here in Dearborn and our state of Michigan.  The number of people we have in Michigan will determine how many representatives we have in the U.S. House. The U.S. government also will use the results from the census  to determine how to divvy up some $400 billion in annual federal spending for such things as education, transportation, human services, and medical programs.

In addition to O’Reilly, Paletko and the representative from the local Census office, Hassan Jaber, executive director of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), also will address those who attend.

Dearborn and Dearborn Heights officials want to be sure senior citizens, particularly “snow birds” and the Arab-American community are counted in the upcoming Census.

U.S. government officials on Monday officially kicked off a $130 million campaign to encourage public awareness of Census 2010. The event kicked off in Times Square in New York.  As the campaign gathers speed, it will be hard to miss: Vehicles promoting the census will crisscross the United States, and ads for the census will run in nearly every form of communication. So get ready.

For those wondering how the last census went in 2000, the U.S. government says just 67 percent answered the survey. In general, those who don’t answer the survey usually do so because they are afraid the information might be used by the government to track them down or might be used for some other bureaucratic use. Government officials say Census information is not shared with law-enforcement agencies or other government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service. It is all confidential. This likely will be a message stressed at Wednesday’s meeting in Dearborn, too.

Those attending the Dearborn event also will receive information about how to apply for a Census job. The positions, while temporary, are expected to be good paying. In New York, for example, the Census Bureau is paying up to $20 per hour to those hired.

Here are the details for those interested in attending this Wednesday:

WHEN: 7:30 -8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

WHERE:Dearborn City Council Chambers, inside City Hall, 13615 Michigan Ave.