Today, the long awaited Arab-American Museum is finally open to the public in Michigan. It stands tribute to art that reflects a new way of life, reports Laila Saada Ahmed Ahmed goes on stage in blue sweater and black pants. He grabs the microphone, throws a menacing look at the audience, staring in silence. Dark face, piercing eyes, beard: he seems to embody an all too familiar stereotype. "I'm an Arab," he says finally. "I'm a Muslim, and I'm on the FBI's most wanted list." Describing the horrors of flying in and out of the US these days, he mimics scared passengers, panicky hostesses and hostile security guards. "It's a bad time to have one Ahmed in your name," he laments. "And I have two..." Tension is released as the theatre rings with laughter. Ahmed is part of an emerging group of young Arab-American artists who have channeled their talent in the service of a cause over and above personal growth. They have politicised their art to address the grievances of their ethnic community, dispel stereotypes and redress the US image of Arabs as a diverse, fun-loving and peaceful people. A 35-year-old Egyptian- American born in Helwan and living in California, with a track record of acting to his name, Ahmed finds stand-up comedy to be the most effective medium. Others prefer music, but whatever the medium, it may well be said that performing arts enthusiasts are witnessing an emerging trend: Arab-Americans fusing their heritage, American culture and political activism into a single concoction and coming up with a new form of artistic expression that is unique to the community but appeals to the curiosity and humanity of Americans at large. "When we make people laugh, they get comfortable with who we are -- it's easier to communicate our thoughts to them," said Dean Obeidallah, 35, a Palestinian-Italian who defines himself simply as American. Obeidallah performs regularly in New York City and alongside Ahmed in several shows around the country. "We use our comedy to help others understand who we are and define our identity as Arab- Americans." Both perform in schools and universities, where they uproot stereotypes freshly seeded in the minds of the young. "I did a show in my sister's high school once," said Ahmed. "The teachers came up to thank me and said, 'You have humanised Arab- American culture for our students.' It's like putting a mirror in front of my audience and forcing them to face their racism." In recent years, indeed, the duo took the theatrical comedy scene by storm. They have a show scheduled this month in Dubai, Obeidallah had three successful shows in Lebanon and Ramallah, while Ahmed conquered the comedy scene in Ireland this year, winning the first Edinburgh award for minorities. Aside from his hectic schedule, and a regular job at NBC, Obeidallah co-organises the annual Arab-American Comedy Festival. He also co-hosts a monthly radio programme called "Fenn Majnoun (crazy art) with Dean and Maysoon", showcasing Arab-American artists, both established and emergent, in various artistic fields. "The Arab American community flourished in a way because of 9/11. Before, being Arab only took up a minor segment of my show," said Obeidallah, who grew up in a mostly Italian neighbourhood in northern New Jersey. "Unlike my Arab audiences abroad, I have found that American audiences tend to lump us all into one group. They want us all to pay for the sins of the few. I feel obliged to showcase our diversity." The tragic events of 11 September not only forced a traditionally complacent community to acquire and develop a voice, but it unified the scattered groups within, prompting them to support the endeavours of artists like Ahmed and Obeidallah. At San Fransisco State University two months ago, Hip-Hop emcee Will Youmans, "the Iron Sheikh", for example rapped Bush- and Israel-bashing lyrics to a large, swaying crowd: "Condoleezza, you look so good to me... Dick Cheney, why you so sexy? ... Wolfowitz, you make my dreams come true, with those freaky things you do." The 27-year-old Palestinian-American left his political science teaching career to focus on writing Hip-Hop song lyrics about issues such as: the Palestinian cause, the war in Iraq, growing up Arab-American and... Fox News. "September 11 gave us visibility," he said. "Suddenly all the cameras of TV channels here are turned on every move we make." But recognition proved a double-edged sword, according to the Sheikh. On the one hand, artists received immediate exposure. But on the other hand, they faced the challenge of rectifying the kind of misconceptions spread by TV channels like Fox News. "My goal is not to entertain people as such. It's to educate them about the reality of the world outside the US," said Sheikh, explaining how he gave his Web site the title of Iron Sheikh: "The Iron Sheikh was a professional wrestling character who served as the stereotypical Middle Eastern villain. He wore a headdress, flowing robes, and the curly Arabian Nights shoes. Growing up, he was a powerful icon that taught me that Middle Easterners are the bad guys, and to be Arab is to be evil," he said. "Now I want to reclaim that moniker and redefine it in an empowering way. In short, my name is in itself political commentary on the misrepresentation of Arabs in the popular media, and what Arab-Americans can do about it through performance arts." With the release of two albums featuring song titles like Olive Trees, About Baghdad and of course Fox News, Sheikh has successfully borrowed from the classical Arabic songs and poetry of such icons as Fayrouz, Umm Kulthoum and Mahmoud Darwish mixing them with Hip-Hop rhythms and politically-charged lyrics. "I performed a show in a high school once after an Israeli speaker finished his speech," he recalled. "By the end of my show, I had a crowd of non-Arabs repeating lines after me and singing about Palestinian refugees. My music reached them more effectively than his long and boring speech. And they came back afterwards wanting to know more. That's the idea." Though the number of Arab-American freestyle performers is still small, their presence is quickly gaining visibility in major media outlets such as CNN, ABC, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. But perhaps no sign of this collective effort is clearer than the newly erected Arab- American National Museum, the first community endeavour that capitalises on this emerging scene. Today, an assortment of Arab-American artists will celebrate as the long-awaited Arab-American National Museum (AANM) opens its doors to visitors for the first time. The museum, a 38,500- square-foot facility in Dearborn, Michigan, houses a collection of Arab-American artifacts, an exhibit of Arab achievements in fields like architecture and science, a history of the community in the US and, most significantly, the contributions of Arab- Americans to US culture and entertainment. Both Ahmed Ahmed and the Iron Sheikh will be featured not only as performers but as actual exhibits. With around 15,000 museums nationwide and not one dedicated to the documentation of Arab-American culture, the AANM lays the foundation for the first landmark for a community of an estimated 4.2 million people, 490,000 of which live in Michigan -- the largest and by far the best organised Arab-American concentration in the entire country. "The museum hopes to become the leading resource on the growing field of Arab-American studies, dispelling stereotypes and, more importantly, operating as a source of pride for Arab- Americans everywhere," said Anan Ameri, AANM director. Located across the street from City Hall, where Mayor Hubbard once unashamedly expressed his anti-Arab-American sentiments, the museum stands as a stylish and ethnically exuberant icon of pride and patriotism. "It is kind of cool and ironic how the museum stands today just across the street from a statue of the man who once wanted us out of the city," said Ahmed. "It's like standing up to him but in a classy, artistic and subtle way, like saying: we're here and we're here to stay."
