JANUARY 2019

100 Questions and Answers about Chaldeans
BY ASHOURINA SLEWO
Working with his students,
author and Michigan
State University journalism
professor, Joe Grimm, has published
a number of cultural competence
guides about various cultures.
His fifteenth and latest guide puts
the spotlight on the Chaldean community.
The book, “100 Questions and
Answers About Chaldeans” came
on the heels of the raids led by Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) in June of 2017 that
lead to the detainment of hundreds
of community members. These community
members faced deportation.
With these massive raids came
many misunderstandings regarding
the Chaldean community. It became
clear to Grimm that a cultural competence
guide about the community
was now more important than ever.
“With people being detained for
possible deportation, we had to act,”
explained Grimm. “It is a journalist’s
job to report relevant information
when it is needed. We saw this
guide and these times as our clear
obligation to serve the public.”
While the deportations play a
part in the making of “100 Questions
and Answers About Chaldeans”,
Grimm had always planned
to write this guide about Chaldeans.
The raids bumped it up on his list of
guides to write, though.
“What makes a guide about
Chaldean American special is that
this place – southeast Michigan –
is the heart of Chaldean America.
That gives our people a tremendous
advantage and a big responsibility
to learn what we can locally and to
share it widely,” said Grimm.
“Personally, the first peer of non-
European descent I spent an extended
time with was a classmate when
I was a student at St. Bede’s School
in Southfield. That was more than
50 years ago. After St. Bede’s, I attended
Brother Rice High School,
where I met more Chaldeans. Living
my whole life in the Detroit area, I
have known Chaldean Americans
in many contexts.”
In order for Grimm’s guides to be
useful, the process of writing each
guide is thorough. First, they begin
by conducting interviews to learn
what Chaldean Americans to describe
basic, everyday questions or
assumptions non-Chaldeans have
about the community.
“These can be questions or assumptions
that Chaldeans hear all
the time or questions they think
people really ought to have the answers
to,” said Grimm.
In writing these guides, Grimm
and his students have four ethics.
They are to be respectful of the people
they write about, be accurate in
portraying the identities, be authoritative
by using solid sources, and be
accessible.
The guides are meant to be accessible
as possible. For this reason,
the books are made available in
print and digital at a low cost across
a number of platforms.
Grimm and his students then
edit each other. In addition, they
solicit critiques at the formative and
question writing stages as well as at
the end of the process.
In this process, several members
of the Chaldean community
have had the opportunity to guide
Grimm and his students.
“These guides cannot possibly
be done without help from experts
in the community. They have been
kind, knowledgeable and patient
with us as they explained things or
corrected our work,” said Grimm.
“We approached people from many
perspectives. People we worked
with directly included Bishop
Francis Kalabat and Fathers Manuel
Boji, Pierre Konja and Patrick
Setto. Others were Vanessa Denha
Garmo, who advised before the class
even began and who then visited it.
Martin Manna has a similarly vital
role.”
Other community experts include
author Jacob Bacall, Mary
Romaya, Mariann Sarafa and Ann
Rabban from the Chaldean Cultural
Center, Zina Salem and Jane
Shallal of the United Community
Family Services (Chaldean American
Ladies of Charity) and even the
president of the Chaldean Heritage
Foundation, Tom Alkatib.
Other notable community members
assisted, including Judge Diane
D’Agostini, State Representative
Klint Kesto, Assistant Metro Editor
Sally Tato, Margaret Saroki-
Shamoun, chair of TEACH, and
Joe Sarafa. Providing several photos
is Wilson Sarkis.
Topics covered in “100 Questions
and Answers About Chaldeans” will
range from the church, employment
and entrepreneurship to myths and
stereotypes in the community.
“The church is very important
and not widely understood. The
church is central. So is family. The
distinctions of religion, nationality
and cultural tradition have to
be explained,” said Grimm. “The
growth of our Chaldean community
in terms of education and employment,
especially entrepreneurship,
is a real story of success and needs to
be understood.”
“Things are not as they were. We
wanted to examine Chaldeans’ historic
origins and, of course, contemporary
history in the United States
and Iraq. It is both tragic and hopeful.”
Grimm hopes readers of this
guide will learn about the flourishing
Chaldean community of metro Detroit
and be confident in their interactions
with Chaldean Americans.
“It is very simple. We wish to give
people the confidence to have better
conversations with Chaldeans,”
explained Grimm. “We want them
to feel less afraid that they will ask
a question that is hurtful or that embarrasses
them. This is a slim little
guide and is just a starting point, not
the whole story.”
There is not yet a release date
for “100 Questions and Answers
About Chaldeans.” When released,
it will be available for purchase on
Amazon.
JANUARY 2019 CHALDEAN NEWS 25