The Arab American Heritage Month

Arab Americans and Americans of Middle Eastern heritage have a long history in the United States. They are U.S. military heroes, entertainers, politicians and scientists. They are Lebanese, Egyptian, Iraqi and more. Yet the representation of Arab Americans in the mainstream media tends to be quite limited. Arabs are typically featured on the news when Islam, hate crimes or terrorism are the topics at hand. Arab American Heritage Month, observed in April, marks a time to reflect on the contributions Arab Americans have made to the U.S. and the diverse group of people who make up the nation’s Middle Eastern population. Arab Immigration to the U.S. While Arab Americans are often stereotyped as perpetual foreigners in the United States, people of Middle Eastern descent first began to enter the country in significant numbers in the 1800s, a fact thats often revisited during Arab American Heritage Month. The first wave of Middle Eastern immigrants arrived in the U.S. circa 1875, according to America.gov. The second wave of such immigrants arrived after 1940. The Arab American Institute reports that by the 1960s, about 15,000 Middle Eastern immigrants from Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq were settling in the U.S. on average each year. By the following decade, the annual number of Arab immigrants increased by several thousand due to the Lebanese civil war. Arab Americans in the 21st Century Today an estimated 4 million Arab Americans live in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated in 2000 that Lebanese Americans constitute the largest group of Arabs in the U.S. About one in four of all Arab Americans is Lebanese. The Lebanese are followed by Egyptians, Syrians, Palestinians, Jordanians, Moroccans, and Iraqis in numbers. Nearly half (46 percent) of the Arab Americans profiled by the Census Bureau in 2000 were born in the U.S. The Census Bureau also found that more men make up the Arab population in the U.S. than women and that most Arab Americans lived in households occupied by married couples. While the first Arab-American immigrants arrived in the 1800s, the Census Bureau found that nearly half of Arab Americans arrived in the U.S. in the 1990s. Regardless of these new arrivals, 75 percent of Arab Americans said that they spoke English very well or exclusively while at home. Arab Americans also tend to be more educated than the general population, with 41 percent having graduated from college compared to 24 percent of the general U.S. population in 2000. The higher levels of education obtained by Arab Americans explains why members of this population were more likely to work in professional jobs and earn more money than Americans generally. On the other hand, more Arab-American men than women were involved in the labor force and a higher number of Arab Americans (17 percent) than Americans generally (12 percent) were likely to live in poverty. Census Representation It’s difficult to get a complete picture of the Arab-American population for Arab American Heritage Month because the U.S. government has classified people of Middle Eastern descent as â€Å"white† since 1970. This has made it challenging to get an accurate count of Arab Americans in the U.S. and to determine how members of this population are faring economically, academically and so forth. The Arab American Institute has reportedly told its members to identify as â€Å"some other race† and then fill in their ethnicity. There’s also a movement to have the Census Bureau give the Middle Eastern population a unique category by the 2020 census. Aref Assaf supported this move in a column for the New Jersey Star-Ledger. â€Å"As Arab-Americans, we have long argued for the need to implement these changes,† he said. â€Å"We have long argued that current racial options available on the Census form produce a severe undercount of Arab Americans. The current Census form is only a ten question form, but the implications for our community are far-reaching†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 

Biography of Dorothy Vaughan, Groundbreaking NASA Mathematician

Dorothy Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an African American mathematician and computer. In her time working for NASA, she became the first African American woman to hold a supervisory position and helped the institution transition to computer programming. Fast Facts: Dorothy Vaughan Full Name: Dorothy Johnson VaughanOccupation: Mathematician and computer programmerBorn: September 20, 1910 in  Kansas City, MissouriDied: November 10, 2008 in Hampton,  VirginiaParents: Leonard and Annie JohnsonSpouse: Howard Vaughan (m. 1932); they had six childrenEducation: Wilberforce University, B.A. in mathematics Early Life Dorothy Vaughan was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of Leonard and Annie Johnson. The Johnson family soon moved to Morgantown, West Virginia, where they stayed throughout Dorothy’s childhood. She quickly proved to be a talented student, graduating early from high school at the age of 15 as her graduating class’ valedictorian. At Wilberforce University, a historically black college in Ohio, Vaughan studied mathematics. Her tuition was covered by a full-ride scholarship from the West Virginia Conference of the A.M.E. Sunday School Convention. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 1929, only 19 years old, cum laude. Three years later, she married Howard Vaughan, and the couple moved to Virginia, where they initially lived with Howard’s wealthy and well-respected family. From Teacher to Computer Although Vaughan was encouraged by her professors at Wilberforce to go to graduate school at Howard University, she declined, instead taking a job at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia, so that she could help support her family during the Great Depression. During this time, she and her husband Howard had six children: two daughters and four sons. Her position and education placed her as an admired leader in her community. Dorothy Vaughan taught high school for 14 years during the era of racially segregated education. In 1943, during World War II, she took a job at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, the predecessor to NASA) as a computer. NACA and the rest of the federal agencies had technically desegregated in 1941 by executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Vaughan was assigned to the West Area Computing group at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Despite women of color being recruited actively, they were still segregated into groups separate from their white counterparts.   Nasa.gov The computing group consisted of expert female mathematicians who dealt with complex mathematical calculations, nearly all done by hand. During the war, their work was connected to the war effort, since the government firmly believed that the war would be won on the strength of air forces. The scope of activity at NACA expanded considerably after WWII ended and the space program began in earnest. For the most part, their work involved reading data, analyzing it, and plotting it for use by the scientists and engineers. Although the women—both white and black—often held degrees similar to (or even more advanced than) the men who worked at NASA, they were only hired for lower positions and pay. Women could not be hired as engineers. Supervisor and Innovator In 1949, Dorothy Vaughan was assigned to supervise the West Area Computers, but not in an official supervisory role. Instead, she was given the role as acting head of the group (after their previous supervisor, a white woman, died). This meant the job didn’t come with the expected title and pay bump. It took several years and advocating for herself before she was finally given the role of supervisor in an official capacity and the benefits that came with it. Vaughan did not just advocate for herself, but also worked hard to advocate for more opportunities for women. Her intention was not just to help her West Computing colleagues, but women across the organization, including white women. Eventually, her expertise came to be highly valued by the engineers at NASA, who relied heavily on her recommendations to match projects with the computers whose skills aligned best. In 1958, NACA became NASA and segregated facilities were completely and finally abolished. Vaughan worked in the Numerical Techniques division and, in 1961, shifted her focus to the new frontier of electronic computing. She figured out, earlier than many others, that electronic computers were going to be the future, so she set out to make sure she—and the women in her group—were prepared. During her time at NASA, Vaughan also contributed directly to projects on the space program with her work on the Scout Launch Vehicle Program, a particular type of rocket designed to launch small satellites into orbit around the Earth. Vaughan taught herself the programming language FORTRAN that was used for early computing, and from there, she taught it to many of her colleagues so they would be prepared for the inevitable transition away from manual computing and towards electronics. Eventually, she and several of her West Area Computing colleagues joined the newly formed Analysis and Computation Division, a race- and gender-integrated group working to expand the horizons of electronic computing. Although she tried to receive another management position, she was never granted one again. Photographs from Dorothy Vaughans retirement party. Vaughan retired from NASA in 1971.   Courtesy Vaughan Family /  Nasa.gov Later Life and Legacy Dorothy Vaughan worked at Langley for 28 years while raising six children (one of whom followed in her footsteps and worked at NASA’s Langley facility). In 1971, Vaughan finally retired at the age of 71. She continued to be active in her community and her church throughout retirement, but lived a fairly quiet life. Vaughan died on November 10, 2008 at the age of 98, less than a week after the election of America’s first black president, Barack Obama. Vaughan’s story came to public attention in 2016, when Margot Lee Shetterly published her nonfiction book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race. The book was made into a popular feature film, Hidden Figures, which was nominated for Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards and won the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Award for best ensemble (the guild’s equivalent of a best picture award). Vaughan is one of the three main characters in the film, along with colleagues Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson. She’s portrayed by Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer. Sources Dorothy Vaughan. Encyclopaedia Britannica.Shetterly, Margot Lee. Dorothy Vaughan Biography. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race. William Morrow Company, 2016.

Independence Day Speech Free Essays

Good morning respected principal, Father John, teachers and all the students present here. I am truly grateful to Father Ajit Kumar Xess for thinking me worthy of addressing this august gathering. Let me begin by congratulating all of you at the golden Jubilee of your school and also wishing each and every one of u a very Happy Independence Day. We will write a custom essay sample on Independence Day Speech or any similar topic only for you Order Now For over half a century our nation has sprung, stumbled, run, followed, rolled over, gotten up and dusted herself. As students, we must always be reminded of this constant perseverance that has always been the backbone of success of our nation today. We live in a country whose faith in success is far greater than her fear of failure. We no longer boycott foreign goods but buy the companies that produce them instead. At this juncture we must also think of our freedom fighters who laid down their lives for our country’s independence. When they began with their struggle, they were young, just like you and me. Their struggle, dedication and unrelenting zeal transformed us into a free nation. They dreamt big, stayed focused, and fought against all odds to achieve their goal. As we stand here, at the threshold of a new phase in our lives, we must take valuable lessons from them and incorporated these into our lives. We must also think of the India today and compare it with the India that the people who fought for our independence, had in their minds. They fought for a free country where everyone would be regarded as equal, every Indian would have equal opportunities. But the India that we see today is not quite as it was imagined to be. We still have a long way to go. Even though, as Indians, we have a lot to be proud of: we are the citizens of a country which has given birth to scholars like Rabindranath Tagore, Amartya Sen, Scientists like Jagdish Chandra Bose, C. V. Raman, visionaries like Mahatma Gandhi and Sportspersons like Kapil Dev, Saina Nehwal, who have represented our country and brought respect to our nation, worldwide. We must draw inspiration from these extraordinary Indians and do something which will not only benefit us, but will also make our fellow Indians proud. In about an years’ time, most of you will be enrolled in engineering colleges, or medical colleges, or might as well go abroad for further studies. Let the thought of the Indian freedom fighters, scholars and scientist make you reach for the stars. At the same time, don’t forget your motherland. We are yet to achieve a â€Å"free† and fair India. We have the third largest pool of doctors, engineers and scientists. Yet, 25 % of our population is illiterate. That is 300,000,000 (a huge chunk of the population) people who cannot read or write. We are ranked the 2nd largest country in the world suffering from mal nutrition. 5 million people are suffering from AIDs. There exists a huge divide between one India and another India. One India says give me a chance and I’ll prove myself, to the other India, we say prove yourself first and then u will have your chance. One India wants, the other India hopes; one India leads and the other India follows. Our responsibi lity as citizens of this country is to converge this divide and forge one India and thereby create a country that our freedom fighters envisaged. Do not let anything stop you from realising your potential. I would to leave you to mull over the following words given by the father of our nation: â€Å"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away. How to cite Independence Day Speech, Papers Independence Day Speech Free Essays â€Å"Filipinos are worth dying for. † this is the famous line of the late senator Noynoy Aquino. Maybe our fellow Filipino who fought for the freedom of the Filipinos from the invaders of our country will also agree with what Noynoy Aquino has said. We will write a custom essay sample on Independence Day Speech or any similar topic only for you Order Now An Independence Day is an annual celebration commemorating the anniversary of a nation’s assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another state, more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Most countries honor their respective independence day as a national holiday and some countries or nations’ independence-date honors’ are contested. Independence Day is the day to commemorate all the works of certain people or individuals who contributed much for the liberty of their country. More that celebrating the freedom of the country from slavery, dictatorship and tyrant rule, it is also the day to acknowledge all the sufferings and hardships of these people we called heroes. We recognize their bravery and thank them for all the things they contributed for the freedom of their country and countrymen. June 12, 1898, is a glorious date in the history of the Filipino people. On this day, President Emilio F. Aguinaldo proclaimed the freedom of the Filipino people. The Philippine national flag was hoisted and the country’s national anthem was played. President Aguinaldo’s proclamation of Philippine Independence not only heralded the birth of a new nation. It also brought glad tidings to the colonial subjects of Asia. It inspired the colonial subjects to struggle to be free. May I ask you this, if our heroes who fought for the freedom can see the current status of our country today, do you think they will be happy? Do think they will be glad that they sacrifice they lives for the sake of our country? . But if you have notice, and based on my opinion some Filipinos doesn’t even know the word peace now. Yes it’s true that we are now free from any invaders and free from the colonization of other country but in our own native land there is still war, a war against each Filipinos who doesn’t know how to mingle with other Filipinos.. And as we all see our country is currently facing an extreme poverty. There is a very high rate of unemployed Filipinos. There are many Filipinos who are hardly to eat 3 times a day. The continuous oil price hike which has been affecting the prices of all products in the market and industry that also making our life harder. And the continuous growth of population which is caused of unemployment. People often say that education will be your key to success. But how will you be successful if unemployment is a big problem in our society today. Newly graduates are having a hard time seeking for a job suitable to their taken profession that’s why sometimes they have no choice but to work in a job that is not related to their course only to say that they are employed. We are aware that our native land was blessed with many tourist destination and tourism brought us big contribution in the progression of our country. But what had happened lately at Quirino Grandstand has changed everything. We are having a hard time convincing tourist to visit our country because of that tragedy. And this affected our country so much. And the never ending issue of terrorism in Mindanao that is always been a subject in peace and order in our country. There is so called government in such country to lead the nation. But what’s happening on our country today is a lot far from this. Our government itself is the one who is putting our economy status miserable because of the word corruption. Instead of handling the nations fund wisely, they are putting it on their personal interest that’s why no projects were been successfully founded. Yes we are free, free from the manipulation of other country ,but in our country I can say that we are definitely not free. Because we are chained into these different problems. It seems like we are in a battle towards our country problems for us to be totally called free. If only everyone of us were doing our duties and responsibilities as a responsible citizen of our country, and if everything were all in places, can you imagine how beautiful our country is? And through this everyone of us can proudly say that â€Å"Filipino’s are really worth dying for â€Å" How to cite Independence Day Speech, Papers