WASHINGTON — Three days before Arab America’s Empowerment Summit, co-founders Warren and Amal David received a shocking setback: their venue, the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando, abruptly canceled, citing security threats. Devastated, the Davids scrambled to reimburse guests.
“We had over 200 pre-registered. They took off work and had babysitters for their children. It was agonizing to know that the whole thing collapsed. We felt like nothing,” Amal David said.
But, a year-long federal lawsuit revealed there had been no security threats. Arab America saw a major victory as the U.S. Department of Justice secured a settlement in January 2025 against the hotel’s owner for civil rights violations based on discrimination.
“We don’t claim to be better than anyone, but we are certainly not worse. We just want to be treated equally. We work hard, whether as students, business owners, or professionals. We chose this country for freedom,” Amal David said.
Arab America, an online media organization dedicated to Arab culture and community resources, has long fought negative stigmas about Arab Americans. What started as one couple’s vision has grown into a national platform with over 70,000 subscribers, advocating, educating, and lobbying on issues affecting Arab Americans. Amid discrimination, Amal David said that the key mission of Arab America was to reclaim the Arab American identity and make sure Arab Americans are understood.
“The image of Arab Americans out there is very negative and backwards, so we want to change the narrative,” Amal David said. “Our mission has three components: promote our heritage, educate others about our identity and connect one another. This is, in a nutshell, how Arab America started.”
When Warren and Amal David founded Arab America, formerly Arab Detroit, in 2007 out of their basement in Michigan, they set out to amplify Arab voices and challenge misconceptions.
“In 2007, as a third-generation Arab American, I was looking for a way to fuel my activism. I didn’t grow up in the Arab world, yet I had this want to connect,” Warren David said. “I decided to start a website called Arab Detroit because Detroit’s like a microcosm of the Arab world.”
According to Axios, in 2023, about 190,000 Arabic speakers, 13% of the U.S. Arabic-speaking population, were concentrated in Detroit, making it the largest metro area for Arabs in the country. It is home to diverse Arab communities, including large Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, Yemeni, and Palestinian populations.
Dearborn, a Detroit suburb, became the first Arab-majority city in the U.S. in 2023. Arabs make up around half of the city’s population.
University of Michigan Political Scientist Michael Traugott analyzed Michigan’s voting patterns in the 2024 Presidential Election.
“In 2020, the Biden-Harris team had won almost 69% of the vote in Dearborn. In 2024, Harris got just 36%,” he wrote in The Conversation. “Harris’ inability to win over Arab Americans played a small but significant role in allowing Trump to win by 80,618 votes.”
Although Arab America is vocal about civic issues impacting Arab Americans, it doesn’t get involved in partisan politics.
Amal David explained that Arab America aims to unite individuals from the 22 Arab nations, not through politics or religion, but through a shared appreciation of culture and heritage.
“That was the ingenious part: bringing Arab Americans together under the banner of heritage, rather than politics, religion, or nationality,” she said.
Warren David said there was misunderstanding within Arab communities due to their diversity in cultures, faiths and ethnicities. Arab Detroit, he explained, served as a platform to unite these groups by promoting events across various cultural and spiritual Arab communities.
The key was a weekly e-newsletter that “hasn’t missed a Wednesday since 2007,” listing events in various Arab communities, he said. The e-newsletter has attracted over 70,000 subscribers, including government agencies, nonprofits, and non-Arab Americans.
Palestinian activist Lily Kamran said she enjoyed reading Arab America’s newsletters.
“Arab America was able to connect different Arabs across different countries, different religions,” Kamran said. “Despite the challenges they encounter, they stick the course,” she said.
Before founding Arab America, Amal David was a public school teacher in Detroit and saw the backlash Arab American students faced after 9/11. She said she saw students being degraded and excluded, and her daughters wanting to hide their identity.
“We had the courage to call our organization Arab America because we want to instill pride in our identity. That’s what I tell my children: Keep enlightening the places where you exist,” she said.
Her journey to Arab America began when she was a student herself.
In 1970, she was the first in her family to leave Northern Palestine for college in the U.S., eventually earning her PhD. Her experience leaving home made her want to empower others, especially women, to pursue higher education and overcome cultural and societal barriers.
In 2011, after moving to Washington D.C. where Warren David led the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), they rebranded as Arab America to reflect its expanded reach as subscribers tapped in across the country.
Amal David said that since then, one of their biggest undertakings has been establishing an official Arab American Heritage Month.
“In 2017, we kicked off a national movement for Arab American Heritage Month, which grew Arab America even bigger and led us to create the nonprofit arm, the Arab America Foundation,” Amal David said.
In April 2021, after years of grassroots efforts, President Biden officially recognized April as National Arab American Heritage Month in a letter to Arab America and the Arab America Foundation.
Donna Haddad, an attorney of Arab descent working for International Business Machines (IBM) in Chicago, turned to Arab America for educational resources while planning her company’s inaugural global celebration of Arab American Heritage Month.
She said by playing trivia, she helped others understand the breadth of the Arab American community, particularly its religious diversity.
“Arab America was able to provide me with a PowerPoint and educational and cultural materials,” she said. “We did trivia to showcase our beautiful culture and people who have contributed to this country for centuries, and one of the trivia questions I ask is, ‘What’s the percentage of Arab Christians in America?’ Most guess around 5 or 10 percent, but it’s around 67 percent.”
Haddad and her daughter were also among the hundreds of guests hoping to attend the Empowerment Summit before it was upended.
“I’m grateful that the Justice Department found them guilty of discriminating, but it was really upsetting,” she said.
Amal David said that next to discrimination, one of the biggest challenges in organizing the movement and the Foundation was the lack of financial support.
“I wish we had known from the beginning just how much money and staff we would need to make this work. We’ve had sleepless nights and moments of frustration. Sometimes, our family has been impacted – missing weddings,” she said. “Despite the challenges, I have no regrets. This is something we’re building for future generations.”
Arab America recognizes young Arab Americans nationwide through initiatives like the Rising Leaders project, which includes the 20 Under 20, 30 Under 30, and 40 Under 40 awards. Since 2020, Amal David said, the organization has celebrated 400 “outstanding Arab Americans,” with plans to add 90 more honorees this October.
Warren David said Arab America has come a long way from its makeshift basement office. He and his wife see it as a lasting legacy despite the obstacles.
“We don’t resist only by writing articles or doing demonstrations, but we show it through pride in where we come from. We resist through playing our music and cooking our food.” Amal David said. “We have to celebrate who we are. We don’t have any other options.”
