Celebrate Arab American Heritage Month with MENASA!

by Tamanna Sood ‘24

April is Arab American Heritage Month. At USC, this month and the associated events are spearheaded by the The Middle Eastern North African Student Assembly (MENASA). MENASA has planned seven events including an opening ceremony, art exhibit, lamp mosaic workshop, community dinner, henna night, Ma’amoul making night, and an advocacy event. I had the privilege of speaking with USC MENASA and USG’s Advocacy Liaison, Yasmeen ElFarra, who shared more about MENASA’s experience attending, developing, and planning the events during the month.

“We had our beautiful opening ceremony to kick off the month on April 1st. We had amazing catered food from Falafel Inc and Knafeh Queens. It was beautiful to see how many people came out to support us. There were over 360 attendees including many non-Arabs who were there to celebrate us and celebrate our culture through dancing and food,” shared ElFarra at the opening ceremony. 

ElFarra noted that the opening ceremony was a much bigger celebration than last year, which was the assembly’s first year holding the event. “We’re really in our preliminary years, and it's really beautiful to see the progression of the event and how we continue to grow as an organization.” 

The next event held in the MENASA’s Arab American Heritage Month series was an art exhibit held on April 4th in Argue Plaza where student artists and professional artists of Middle Eastern and North African heritage were able to share their art. The exhibit featured paintings, photography, and drawings. 

“The whole idea of the event was to get MENA [Middle Eastern and North African] student and professional artists a space to express themselves and their idea of culture and heritage through art,” Elfarra said. Elfarra highlighted how MENASA did their best to provide their community members with a great experience. The free materials provided by MENASA for their lamp mosaic workshop, which was held on April 9th, were worth almost $100 per person. “We invested a lot of our resources and budget into making sure that whoever signs up has all the necessary materials. We think that it's a really beautiful and creative way to showcase a different aspect of our culture as mosaic lamps are very strongly aligned with Arab culture,” shared Elfarra. 

MENASA’s aim with their Arab American Heritage Month event series was to highlight Arab culture in as many ways as possible. The event series will allow students to engage with Arab cooking and cultural practices through events like making MaaMoul, an iconic Arab date filled butter cookie, and a henna night. 

Elfarra shares that MENASA also wanted to be sure they provided their North African community members with an equally enriching experience. The Casablanca Dinner, named after the city in Morocco, will be held on April 24th in Cardinal Gardens and will highlight North African cuisine and culture. 

“We wanted to have a specific event to highlight the North African community and give visibility to their unique culture as well. Although Middle Eastern and North African cultures intertwine, there are specific aspects of North African culture that are distinct and unique, and we wanted to create a space where those are specifically celebrated” noted ElFarra. 

The event series will end with a MENASA x IDEAS (Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success) Advocacy event where students will be able to share their immigration experience on paper at a booth on campus. These stories will be displayed for the public to read.“It will be like a read a story, leave a story kind of situation. We’ll be in Trousdale with a little tent and hang up a clothesline where students can write their own stories or share general experience with troubles they may have faced living and experiencing life in this country.” 

Make sure to keep a lookout for all the upcoming Arab American Heritage Month events coming your way this month! If you are interested in learning more and attending MENASA’s events this month, make sure to follow them on their Instagram!

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