On Saturday night, close to 1,400 students, faculty and community members flocked to the Power Center for the Performing Arts to attend Arab Xpressions — the University's annual showcase of Arabic culture. Xpressions is organized by the Arab Student Association, and featured Arab dances, skits, poetry and student talent to celebrate the beginning of Arab Heritage Month. It is the only Arab culture show produced on such a large scale at the University of Michigan.

LSA seniors Jad Elharake and Haleemah Aqel were the hosts of the event. On stage, they described how Arab Xpressions had transformed in terms of attendance and venue, year by year.  Starting in the dorms, it was later moved to the Angell Hall Courtyard computing site –– commonly known as the Fishbowl –– then the Diag, the Michigan League and finally the Power Center. Now, the hosts emphasized, the culture show is a linchpin of Arab identity on campus. 

The hosts also discussed an error The Daily made in previous coverage of an event the organization held on the Diag in 2012. A photo caption incorrectly characterized all of the groups participating in the event as Muslim and the event as a flashmob.

“So the caption says ‘Members of Arab Expression, a coalition of Muslim groups, participate in a flash mob on the Diag yesterday,” Elharake said. 

“Alright, we’re not that violent,” Aqel joked about the flashmob mislabeling. “We need to stop doing these stereotypes.”

Elharake and Aqel also acknowledged changes in the Arab community on campus since last year’s Arab Xpressions, voicing their appreciation of the passage of the #UMDivest resolution by Central Student Government. In November, for the first time in campus history, CSG passed a resolution calling for the University’s Board of Regents to investigate three companies operating in Israel involved in human rights violations toward Palestinians.

“After 15 years and 11 attempts, University of Michigan’s Central Student Government finally passes a resolution to investigate into companies who fund governments that commit human rights violations,” Elharake said. “And it just so happens to be that it is against the Palestinian community.”

The event featured a belly dancing group and six different groups perform various styles of Dabke — a Levantine Arab folk dance combining circle and line dancing. In-between acts, a projector played video skits, poking fun at different aspects of Arab culture and being Arab at the University. The event also featured three different student talents and three poems.

Gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, D, also spoke at the event. A son of an Egyptian immigrant and University alum, El-Sayed’s race and religion have played a prominent role in his candidacy. He affirmed his pride in seeing the Arab-American community's strength grow over the years.

“It is such a privilege to watch how this Arab-American community has blossomed,” El-Sayed said. “So much of what brings us to the table today is asking about how it is that we can contribute to the social fabric that makes us Americans to begin with.”

Humankind, El-Sayed said, united more than it divided. 

“There is something about humanity that is far bigger than the differences that we’ve come to know.”

Arab Xpressions also held a spoken-word performance, titled “Spotlight,” wherein three students recited poetry on the difficulties Arabs and Arab-Americans face. Public Policy senior Nadine Jawad wrote about #WeExist — a campaign asking the University to include an identity marker for Middle Eastern and North African students on all University documents. Currently, the University collects no instutitonal data on the Arab community—the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sample campus climate survey last fall estimated close to 4 percent of students identify as MENA. 

“Though I tried to grapple at my features as my armor, dark hair, beards and hijab painted an ‘x’ on our back with a marker," Jawad, Central Student Government vice president, read. “You found us. You can see us. We exist.”

The event concluded with a fashion show modeling clothing from all 22 Arab countries.

LSA freshman Julianna Morano said she enjoyed the show overall, but particularly loved the “Spotlight” performance. Rackham student Yahya Hafez delivered a searing spoken word connecting Arab campus activism to generations of global organizing targeted by state violence, from Palestine to South America to the Black Panther party. 

“It just redefined what we think of crime and terrorism...and it turned a lot of events in the media on their head and it was so well delivered,” Morano said.