Dearborn, Detroit Mark 9/11 Anniversary with Four-Day Event

On Sunday, the anniversary of a day most of us will remember forever will be cause for reflection all over the United States, and Dearborn and surrounding communities are no different.

To explore the impact of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Dearborn nonprofit ACCESS and its partners will present “U.S. Rising: Emerging Voices in Post 9/11 America” Sept. 8-11.

The program will explore how our nation and our local communities have changed since the attacks on America through volunteerism, conversation, storytelling, forums, music and art. And hopefully, it will promote healing that is still taking place after the events of that fateful day.

This series is sponsored by , the National Network for Arab American Communities; the Center for Arab American Philanthropy; and the ; with co-sponsorship from the , the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, and WDET public radio.

Hassan Jaber, the executive director of ACCESS, said the event will promote further healing and dialogue.

“I think the event is going to tell the stories of people we have not heard from since that tragic day,” he said. “We have members of several cultures who will share their stories.

Jaber also said the volunteerism that will take place on Sept. 11 is a big part of the overall event.

“More than 700 young people will volunteer this year,” he said. “It’s a chance for young people to show that they’re engaged and they’re willing to give back.”            

Forums, Activities and Volunteerism

The U.S. Rising events and forums will take place in Dearborn and Detroit.

Two forums, "The Post 9/11 Legal Landscape" held on Sept. 8 and "How 9/11 Shaped Our Lives" held on Sept. 9, will take place at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, respectively.

Those forums lead up to the major event, which will take place at the Arab American National Museum on Sept. 10. The main event will consist of two forums, including “Reclaiming of Civil Rights” and “Amplifying Our Voices: Rising Above the Challenges of Post 9/11 Bigotry.”

But the cornerstone of the event will take place on Sept. 11 and will include hundreds of volunteers.

The Acts of Kindness (A-OK) Detroit: Working Side by Side to Make a Difference was conceived in response to a call by President Barack Obama to make 9/11 an annual National Day of Service and Remembrance, said Victor Begg, the chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan.

“Sept. 11 was a difficult time for the entire community,” he said. “The volunteerism is a way we can honor the victims because the young people will be helping out others. It’s creating goodwill.”

For this year's A-OK event, 700 volunteers will meet at Focus: HOPE’s Oakman Boulevard location in Detroit to take part in projects such as park beautification, vacant lot clean-up, food packaging for the less fortunate, sorting art supplies for local schools and writing thank-you cards to U.S. troops serving abroad.

Begg said he hopes the volunteerism is a chance for people to learn about people of differing economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds.

“The goal is to create an atmosphere of understanding,” he said.

Arts and Stories

Area residents who would like to remember the events of 9/11 through cultural exploration will have many options, including visiting the Arab American National Museum, which will be open to the public free of charge on Sept. 11.

Additionally, the community members interested in telling their personal stories may contact the museum to request time in the national StoryCorps booth, which will be housed at the Museum Sept. 8-10.

StoryCorps is an oral history project that is heard weekly on National Public Radio. Since the project’s inception in 2003, it has collected and archived more than 30,000 interviews. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Also at the museum, Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendum will launch the Arab American National Museum’s Global Thursdays series on Sept. 8. Offendum has performed around the world and has created music about the recent Arab World democratic uprisings.

For a full calendar of 9/11 events in Dearborn and metro Detroit, click here.