Two street signs honoring Osama Siblani were placed by Wayne County on Warren Avenue.

Osama Siblani established the Arab American News in 1984.

When Osama Siblani established the Arab American News in Dearborn in 1984, the city's Arab population was still on the margins politically. The year after he started the Dearborn newspaper, a councilman running for mayor, Michael Guido, sent out campaign fliers complaining about "the Arab problem" and was elected. The community also faced at times racist attacks that year amid tensions in the Middle East.

But 40 years later, Siblani's legacy as a journalist, community advocate and political powerbroker was celebrated Monday, Sept. 8, by a range of city, county and state officials, illustrating how far the Arab American population has come. A str

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