By Simon Albaugh \u2013 Yemeni American News<\/p>\n
Dearborn, Mich. \u2013 Being the top vote-getter in Dearborn\u2019s Yemeni American Community comes with the responsibility of an entire neighborhood, lost, as many see it, from the benefit of Dearborn\u2019s government. Haphazardly stuck among heavy industry and chemical pollutants, Dearborn\u2019s Southend needs representation.<\/p>\n
Samraa Luqman earned 4,165 votes in the August Primary for Dearborn City Council. This secured the Southend-based activist a spot on the ballot for November\u2019s general elections. Having spent the majority of her life living in the working-class neighborhood, her campaign continues to be defined by advocacy for her own small community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn’t be running if I felt like I had adequate representation,\u201d Luqman said. \u201cThat’s the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luqman moved to the Southend at six years old, having moved from Chicago with her family. Her father, a Veteran of the Korean War, became a Physician and later served as Chief of Medicine for the U.S. Department of Veteran\u2019s Affairs. Luqman\u2019s mother was a local activist, starting a nonprofit known as the American Yemeni Women\u2019s Association (AYWA).<\/p>\n
The influence of both her parents became the backbone for her direction toward community service, explains Luqman.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was an Army Major, he was working with the VA,\u201d Luqman said. \u201cAnd we\u2019d go visit him three times a year. When I was twelve, he got me volunteering at the VA. So community service started there.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom, when I was 18, had established a nonprofit organization. So from there, I started attending townhalls, city council, zoning board and different things speaking out. And that\u2019s kind of where I was taking my baby steps and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, you can often find Luqman speaking during Dearborn public meetings about the disparities in city services \u2013 for every $60 in recreation dollars spent in the Southend, $140 is spent in the surrounding areas. During the protests against the city\u2019s response to flooding in the southend, Luqman rallied with protesters as well.<\/p>\n
But one of the most pressing issues that Samraa rallies for is environmental justice reform for her community. Since the time of Mayor Orville Hubbard, the area has been a magnet for heavy industry that often produces a toxic environment for those who live in the neighborhood. And according to Professor Sally Howell\u2019s research, this was by design.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 1950s the city of Dearborn, Michigan, led by Mayor Orville Hubbard, began a campaign to declare the Southend neighborhood a \u201cblighted area,\u201d evict its ethnically diverse, working class residents, and turn their properties over to the Ford Motor Company and the Edward C. Levy Company for development as an \u201cindustrial park,\u201d writes Professor Howell.<\/p>\n
Although this area hadn\u2019t become a majority-Arab region of the city yet, its location, described by Luqman as a \u201clanding mat\u201d for immigrants in the metro Detroit region was already well into its beginning.<\/p>\n
The aftereffects of this heavy industry are felt in the funerals of many in the Southend. Cancer rates in the neighborhood are astronomical, leaving most residents with a loss from the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started noticing on my street,\u201d Luqman said. \u201cMy neighbor immediately to my left across the street, she died of breast cancer. To my right, a few doors down, her dad died of kidney cancer. And when you go down a few more doors, another young girl that I went to school with died in her twenties of breast cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The link between residing close to heavy industry and high rates of cancer have been well documented by medical researchers. All of these complications point to a renewed effort for representation in the Southend, calling for someone to be a part of the decision-making that impacts their own neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Samraa met us in a small coffee shop in Garden City, just near the border of Dearborn. She recited statistics about cancer rates, city spending, and almost a complete absence of representation from the Southend \u2013 according to Samraa there\u2019s only one appointee still serving the city from her neighborhood.<\/p>\n
As the general election approaches, she talked about the challenge of racing. And the inspiration that drives her to continue her campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have the time to do this interview,\u201d Luqman tells the Yemeni American News. \u201cI don\u2019t have the luxury of time for going to meetings and running for council. It\u2019s not a luxury, and it\u2019s not a next step in my career. It\u2019s something I want to give back to the community. I\u2019m driven by necessity, I\u2019m driven by desperation of people who are literally dying from pollution and from negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n