As part of our Arab American Heritage Month celebration, we talked with Dave Serio, curator of education at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. We addressed wide-ranging topics, from what it means to be Arab to the impetus behind the museum’s opening 20 years ago to an idea for music to add to your playlist. We kicked things off by asking Mr. Serio about the history of his family, and how they came to America.
Q: To start off, would you mind telling us a little about the personal history of you and your family?
My family is originally from a small town in Lebanon, and they immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. They eventually made their way to Detroit, where my family got involved in gardening and opening small businesses. While our family has expanded and spread out all over the country, my immediate family is still in the metro Detroit area, which is where I was born and raised. I was very fortunate to grow up with a family who was very proud of our roots (Lebanon) and who encouraged and embraced our culture.
Q: What motivated you to do the type of work you do?
When I was growing up, I went to mostly non-Arab schools and grew up in a very non-Arab city. Most kids and people in general had no idea what or where Lebanon was, let alone anything related to being Arab/Arab American. There was unfortunately a lot of ignorance, and the little people knew was riddled with harmful stereotypes. This only expanded after September 11. After facing some difficult situations and hearing a lot of angry, stereotypical and harmful things about my culture and where my family came from, I went to my family and asked for more details about our culture. I wanted to know more about where we came from, and to understand why people would say these harmful, ignorant things. So, my grandfather helped educate me on what it really meant to be Arab American, and he inspired me to outwardly embrace who I am, as a proud Arab American. All of these interactions inspired my desire to educate people and dispel these harmful stereotypes.
Q: When we talk about the Arab world, what does that encompass?
There are three unifying factors that bring our 22 Arab countries together. The first is a shared language, Arabic, which is the official language of all 22 countries (sometimes alongside other official languages). The second unifying factor is that all 22 countries have a shared history and culture. And the third unifying factor among the Arab world countries is that they are all part of the Arab League, which was formed in 1945. Now, even though we have our unifying factors it is important to note that there is a large amount of diversity across the Arab world. There are many different Arabic dialects spoken across the world, some of which can sound very different from one another. There are also different cultural components and historical pieces from country to country – at the end of the day, there are 22 different countries and even though there are a lot of similarities, we see considerable differences. A common misconception is that religion is one of our unifying factors, specifically that all Arabs are Muslim/practice Islam. While many Arab and Arab Americans may practice Islam, there is a lot of religious diversity among the Arab world and Arab American community. There is a large portion of Arabs who are Christian (multiple sects), Arabs who are Jewish and Arabs connected to numerous other religions. And within Islam itself, Arabs only make up approximately 20% of the Muslim population. So, Arabs are actually a minority when we look at Muslims across the world.
Q: What was the inspiration for creating this museum when it was founded 20 years ago?
The Arab American National Museum (AANM) is the only museum of its kind in the United States, dedicated to sharing the story of Arab Americans. It serves as a touchstone that connects communities to Arab American culture and experiences. For many years, American society has unfortunately had stereotypes about the Arab American community, with most people getting information on Arab Americans through the news and Hollywood cinema. AANM was created to help share the stories of Arab Americans, dispel stereotypes, educate the general public and instill pride in Arab Americans to be proud of their culture, their stories.
Q: Is there a feature of the museum that is especially popular?
One of our most popular exhibits is our immigration exhibit, Coming to America. The exhibit focuses on four distinct periods of Arab immigration to the US, going back to the 1880s through today. One of our most impactful stories highlights the story of Zammouri, who is the first recorded Arabic speaker brought to North America as an enslaved person. Throughout the exhibit, one will learn about many personal stories and hear portions of collected oral histories of how, when and why people came to the US. Many of the stories and exhibits throughout AANM connect to various communities. You do not have to be Arab American to appreciate and connect with our story.
Q: Is there any aspect of the museum that people find most surprising?
One of the big surprises for many guests is the religious diversity that exists in our community. Many people, sometimes even in our own community, are surprised to learn that Arab Americans can and are connected to many different religious communities. Our religion case in our main level highlights this reality beautifully. And our map highlights a few different religious communities throughout the Arab world. People are also very surprised to find some of the things we use today were developed in the Arab world, like algebra, astrolabes, research on medicines and surgical tools, and coffee!
Q: There seems to be a lot of emphasis put on storytelling. Why is that?
Stories, especially personal stories are one of the best ways to learn about another community. These personal stories make the exhibits and guests' experiences come alive. The Arab American community is extremely diverse, so in order to tell our vast, beautiful story, using the personal narratives of our community helps to tell that story in a more complete, inclusive and diverse way. Telling stories is also a great way to learn about history. Most people will not remember data and specific years thrown at them in large quantities. However, storytelling is a warm way to deliver information to audiences that is digestible, engaging and inviting.
Q: One thing the museum does well is highlight all the advances Arab culture contributed to world in regard to art, architecture, science, math, medicine, astronomy, physics, navigation, geography, literature, and philosophy. For you personally, any accomplishment you see as being particularly meaningful or important?
So much of what we utilize today comes from the Arab world. Have you ever used Algebra? Or maybe you have used a camera before? Do you enjoy the comfort of coffee or using soap to clean with? All of these and much more came from the Arab world! We don’t know it but many of the things we use and many of the words for these things we use (the word for coffee comes from the Arabic word, ‘qahwah’ for example) originate in the Arab world. Most people know and are marveled by the pyramids in Egypt (as we should), but did you also know that there are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt, which are equally amazing? Did you know that some of the first ancient skyscrapers came from Yemen? It’s impossible to choose just one accomplishment because the Arab world has given us so much!
Q: There have been many exhibits over the years. Have any been particularly controversial?
Over 20 years, we have hosted some fantastic exhibits, all that bring their own powerful messages and interesting pieces. One of my favorites and perhaps one of our more controversial (by some folks' standards) exhibits we hosted was an exhibit titled, “THEM: Objects of Separation, Hate and Violence.” This exhibit, as it pretty clearly says in the title, was an exhibit that was exhibited from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI. The exhibit hosted different items – consumer products, objects, photos and newspapers/articles - that targeted and stereotyped not just the Arab American community, but many communities throughout the decades. We wanted to be careful with this exhibit, so we specifically put permission slips together for parents and teachers to sign off on allowing us to include this exhibit in the tour. I recall a few classrooms requesting we not take students through the exhibit and some parents objecting to their children going to this exhibit when they visited. Most visitors did engage with the exhibit. We had some heavy and often times very difficult conversations with guests. But overall, conversations on race, discrimination and stereotyping are so important to have, especially with the diverse audiences we often see. Looking at these images face-to-face forces us to have these uncomfortable but necessary conversations.
Q: Is there any movie you’d recommend people watch?
One of my favorite Arab American movies is a movie called, “Breaking Fast” which is by the wonderful Mike Mosallam. The film focuses on a queer, Arab, Muslim American who stumbles into love. Not only is it a beautifully made film, but it’s a lovely look at a part of our community that we don’t get to see too often on the big screen. Plus, we get to see our characters in a cute, romcom movie, which we rarely see. We are starting to see more and more films by, about and for Arab Americans being created, which is a big step in the right direction.
Q: Any music on your playlist people should listen to? Why?
One of my favorite groups is the Palestinian group 47 Soul. I had never really gotten into modern Arabic music (of course, I love the classic greats, like Um Kulthum, Fairuz, etc.) but when I learned of 47 Soul, I couldn’t turn it off! They created the Shamstep genre, and their music is inspired/influenced by R&B, electronic, hip-hop and also incorporates dabke and other traditional music found in the Levant [historically, the region along the eastern Mediterranean shores, roughly corresponding to modern-day Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and certain adjacent areas]. It’s really awesome music and I love how they incorporate Palestine (subtly or not subtly) into a lot of their music.
Q: What has you feeling optimistic or hopeful?
It can seem like it’s pretty hard to be optimistic and hopeful right now, given the times we’re in – with things happening locally, nationally and internationally. Where I find hope is that most folks really are interested in understanding what’s happening in the world around them. At AANM, we find many people coming to our doors to understand what’s going on in Palestine, or to teach their non-Arab friends about our wonderful contributions to the world, our culture and our immigration story. We see people asking us as staff if we are okay, if there is anything they can do to be supportive allies. So, I’m optimistic about our ability as humans to become educated and spread that education far and wide. This gives me hope. It gives me hope that education will help dispel stereotypes, reveal truths, build bridges between other communities and bring us together.