Asalam Alaikum, Walaikum Salam, this is the proper response to the greeting “Asalam Alaikum” and it translates to “And unto you peace”. I chose to start my first blog post with the greeting Asalam Alaikum because I think it is symbolic of the values that come with community work and community-based research, but after two …
Asalam Alaikum, It’s already been 2 months, and I feel as though we have barely cracked the surface. Going into this project, I was ecstatic to be joining this project and couldn’t wait to learn all about the work that is going on at the ground level. I was always interested in the nonprofit space …
Asalam Alaikum! Last week I was scrambling for power, specifically electricity. In our planning of a community movie night in a newly acquired parcel of land, it was smooth sailing until the day of, when our hopeful power source flat out told me “no” over the door receiver when asking if we could use one …
Asalam Alaikum! Flight 255. At first, this didn’t mean anything to me, something that happened before my time. It wasn’t until the first interview that I actually facilitated, that I learned more about the fourth deadliest aviation accident in the history of the United States. To be able to interview someone who actually worked that …
Asalam Alaikum! Last week I introduced you to Dawud Clark. Dawud is a dedicated, kind, and respected member of this community, and his established “Welcome to the Muslim Center” is a hallmark of what makes this community center such a wonderful and hospitable place to be. Dawud is the house manager for DREAM’s Project Homecoming …
Asalam Alaikum! This week I chose to delay posting all in the pursuit of love… not my love, but the love of a beautiful couple from our community. This shoot was incredible. We had tears, we had laughter, and we even had some rain, all on Detroit’s beautiful riverfront. We had so many great friends …
One of the largest factors and causes of the housing crisis in Detroit is the impact that overassessments on properties and those that call these properties home have had. Overassessments by the city of Detroit have cost Detroit taxpayers to pay over hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes since a recession that saw …
Asalam alaikum everyone! This week, the community that I am working within had two Janazahs (Islamic funerals). The individuals who passed were both Muslim, but the family and friends that had attended each Janazah were noticeably more diverse. During the ceremony for Brother “Ahmed,” I observed Muslim brothers and sisters dressed in traditional Nation of …
Asalam alaikum everyone! My name is Buraq Oral. I am a Muslim from Canton Michigan and a second-generation Turk. Growing up, I had 5 older sisters each of them more chaotic than the other. Being surrounded by such a large family, I had always valued the chaos and comfort of having a tight-knit community …
