Dignity for All
The University of Dayton’s mission as a Catholic and Marianist institution is rooted in the belief that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and has a fundamental dignity that transcends faith, nationality, race, social status and identity. As such, the University is committed to being a place of welcome, respect and intellectual inquiry. By shedding light on hidden and incomplete histories, this blog post validates the dignity, agency and authorship of people and cultures underrepresented in libraries and curricula. Read more about UD’s mission.
April is a month that offers the opportunity to celebrate and learn more about the diverse groups that make up Arab American communities, as well as Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. National Arab American Heritage Month first gained federal recognition in 2021, although many states began recognizing the contributions of Arab Americans several years prior to President Biden’s 2021 proclamation letter. May is the traditional month for celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, but at UD we honor and recognize this cultural heritage month in April.
This month offers many opportunities for us all to highlight the common struggles, unique achievements, rich and varied cultural backgrounds and shared experiences of those who form these communities. We invite you to explore the stories, both real and imagined, that can deepen your understanding of these diverse lived experiences.
Recommended Reads
- The Skin and Its Girl: A Novel, by Sarah Cypher (request through OhioLINK). This debut novel tells the story of a young, queer Palestinian American woman who is unraveling family secrets that revolve around her great-aunt’s secrets in this sweeping family saga that explores questions of sexual identity, what it means to experience exile, and what lineage means in a broken family.
- Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, by Laila Lalami (UD login required to access e-book). Lalami recounts her journey to U.S. citizenship as a Moroccan immigrant. Blending memoir, history, politics and literature, Lalami explores how the rights and privileges of citizenship are afforded unequally to different cultural groups in America.
- I Was Their American Dream, by Malaka Gharib (request through OhioLINK). This graphic memoir and coming-of-age story chronicles the experiences of Gharib, who immigrates to the United States as an adolescent. Navigating the cultural differences between her Filipino and Egyptian parents while also learning what it means to become an all-American teen, Gharib explores the tensions of holding onto her complex cultural identity while adapting to a new environment.
- Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience, by Alixa Naff (UD login required to access e-book). In 1962, Naff set out to document the stories of immigrants from Syria and Lebanon through an oral history project. This project ultimately led to this groundbreaking book from 1985 that documents contributions and experiences of Arabs in America.
- From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty In Hawaiʻi, by Haunani-Kay Trask (UD login required to access e-book). An influential text for the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, this series of essays explores institutional racism, gender discrimination and abuses of Native Hawaiian rights. This revised edition includes expanded material that addresses Native Hawaiian student organizing at the University of Hawaii; the master plan of the Native Hawaiian self-governing organization Ka Lahui Hawai’i and its platform on the four political arenas of sovereignty; the 1989 Hawai’i declaration of the Hawai’i ecumenical coalition on tourism; and a typology on racism and imperialism.
- The Emperor Of Gladness: A Novel, by Ocean Vuong (available at Roesch Library). This novel tells the story of an unlikely bond formed by 19-year old Hai and Grazina, an elderly widow facing dementia in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut. When Grazina convinces Hai to reconsider a suicide attempt, Hai becomes her caretaker, and over the course of a year, their complex relationship, grounded in empathy, helps Hai transform other relationships — with himself, his family and his larger community.