JANUARY 2024

CULTURE & HISTORY
Chaldean Immigrant Media Pioneers
In Michigan and the United States
BY ADHID MIRI, PHD
To commemorate the 20th anniversary
of publishing the Chaldean
News, we take this opportunity
to look back and honor the
first Chaldean newspapers published
in the US. We remember a host of
Chaldean Iraqi immigrants who were
journalists, writers, poets, and media
entrepreneurs, and we celebrate their
accomplishments here in America.
Between 1910 and 1947, few Chaldeans
(mainly from Iraq) immigrated
to the United States. They were part
of the era of mass migration which
brought millions from across the world
to an America desperately in need of
workers for its growing economy. Detroit
was a popular destination for
immigrants from Iraq because of the
growing automobile industry and an
established Middle Eastern community
consisting primarily of Christian
immigrants from Lebanon and Syria.
In 1943, community sources listed
908 Chaldeans in the Detroit area.
Three years later, 80 Chaldean families
were recorded as living within the city
limits of Detroit; by 1963, this number
had tripled, to about 3,000 individuals.
Many Iraqi citizens immigrated to
the United States during the mid-1960s
due to changes in US immigration
laws, and the growth of Detroit’s Chaldean
American community became
even more dramatic. By 1967, the number
of Chaldeans in metro Detroit had
risen to about 3,400; by 1986, the number
had climbed to 45,000. In 1992, the
number reported was 75,000. Surveys
sponsored by the Chaldean American
Chamber of Commerce placed the
number at 160,000 in 2016 and more
than 187,000 in 2023.
​One of the cultural necessities the
early generation immigrants yearned
for was communication in the form
of journalism—newspapers, magazines,
books, radio, television, and
later, social media. With the increase
in the number of Iraqi immigrants, the
need for the diaspora’s intellectuals to
share their knowledge and opinions
emerged.
The early community press in the
US was part of the Arab press; its birth
came with the issuance of Al- Mashriq/
The Orient in 1949 by Hanna Yatooma
in Michigan. Some historians cite the
famous Al-Islah/the Reform, published
in 1954 in New York by Father
Jameel Alfons Shourez. These early
publications were followed in 1962
by Al A’lam Al Jadid/New World, published
by a lawyer named Yousif Antoun.
In 1968, Faisal Arabo published
his first paper, Voice of the Immigrant/
Sout Al-Muhajir. The freely distributed
newspaper was self-described as “The
newspaper of record for the American
Arab community.” It was a short-lived
endeavor, publishing only 4 issues
(June, July, August, and October 1968).
Al Hadaf by Fouad Manna was
published in 1970, followed by the issuance
of several newspapers in other
US cities. This was in addition to magazines
issued by churches, organizations,
and institutions.
The Iraqi-immigrant press went
42 CHALDEAN NEWS JANUARY 2024