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AMEMSA+ History & Heritage Month

AMEMSA History & Heritage Month

AMEMSA+ History & Heritage Month, also called Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian+ Heritage Month, is a month-long commemoration of the history and achievement of AMEMSA+ people that takes place each April in the US. Arab Americans are immigrants or descendants of people from the Arabic-speaking world, which includes twenty-two countries in the Middle East and West, North, and East Africa. The countries include Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The South Asia includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives and sometimes includes Afghanistan. 

U.S. Congress recognizes Arab American History Month 

Famous People in AMEMSA History

Buddha

The Buddha

The Buddha (563-480 B.C.) was an Indian philosopher, religious teacher, and the historical founder of Buddhism. He is regarded variously as a human spiritual teacher or an omniscient, active deity...Full Bio

Image Credit: A copper-plate picture by  under Creative Commons License

Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) was an Indian revolutionary religious leader who used his religious power for political and social reform. Although he held no governmental office, he was the prime mover in the struggle for independence of the world's second-most populous nation. In 2015, a large statue of Gandhi was added to Parliament Square in London, England...Full Bio

Image Credit: Public Domain image.

Kahlil Gibran

Kahlil Gibran

Gibran sought and won acceptance from New York's artistic and literary world. His first work in English, The Madman, appeared in 1918. Following the release of several other titles, in 1923 The Prophet was published, selling more than 1,000 copies in three months. Full bio 

Image Credit:  Kahlil Gibran with Book - photograph by F. Holland Day (MET, 33.43.361). Public Domain Image

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader was born in 1934 to a Lebanese immigrant couple; He grew up speaking Arabic as well as English. As a young attorney, Nader took on a number of auto accident cases and in the process began to delve into highway mortality statistics. Full bio

Image Credit: Thomas J. O'Halloran, photographer - Library of Congress LC-DIG-ppmsca-19609 (digital file from original). No known restrictions on publication.

Danny Thomas

Danny Thomas

Born Muzyad Yakhoob, Danny Thomas began singing on a Detroit radio station. In the 1950s he became one of the most successful television producers and his work included The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Full Bio

Image Credit: File:Danny Thomas - UCLA Library Digital Collections (uclalat 1429 b514 221715).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

AMEMSA History & Heritage eBooks @ Miracosta Library

eBooks by South Asian Authors