(The Yemeni American News)
Behind every immigrant there is a unique story The history of Arab American immigration to the U.S goes back to sometime at the end of 1800. Behind every immigrant there is a unique story that reflects the goals and hopes of their new home to be.
Salem Ali is one of those immigrants, his American story started in his early age. Salem Ali immigrated to the U.S in on 1972 Like most immigrants that was the decision that changed his life.
Salem Ali, immigrated to the United States of America in 1972. His trip to the U.S came with hope and more importantly change.
Mr. Salem Ali landed in California on his first arrival. He then started working in a farm with a minimum pay that could not even afford his living. To seek more job opportunities, he decided to move to Michigan after two months of his arrival.
In Michigan he started working full time in a steal company. He wanted to collect some money to send it to his family in Yemen. Mr. Ali did not just stop working in a factory; however became an important figure in his community. In the same year of 1972, he started working with community members in the Yemeni American Benevolent Association (YABA). He then went on to work with the Arabic community as whole, by becoming an active member in several non-profit organizations such as: ACCESS, ADC, and several others.
He did not just stop working for the Arabic community; he also wanted to give back to his country America, by becoming an active American Democratic Member, and serving on every annual National Service Day.
Mr. Salem Ali has a huge impact on the life of his family. He came here with a vision, and that vision is to make education more accessible for his children. The youngest child Bassam Ali is now a first year Dental Student at the University of Detroit Mercy school of Dental Medicine. His other children are also educated, and have their own established business.
Mr. Salem Ali is a strong supporter of education, heritage, and culture. He served on several positions in the YABA board. He first started as a member, then became a treasurer, then a vice president, and now is serving as the Deputy Director at YABA. He has been running the Arabic school at YABA with several members for a long time. He continues to go to every school in Dearborn and follows the progress of our Yemeni students in Dearborn public schools.
Mr. Salem Ali did not just stop at making education an important part in his family, but also for our Yemeni community as a whole.
His strong ties with his home country made him a strong supporter for our children to continue learning their native Arabic language. In every speech he gives, his key words are children, education, tradition, and religion.
Mr. Salem Ali, always wanted to spend a longer time in his native land, however his children’s education, and his mission with the community service, makes it hard for him to leave for a long time. However, form time to time he takes his children to Yemen so they can spend time with his family in Yemen, and learn more about their original country. His community service has been noted by many organizations and he finds it really hard to withdraw from what he has been doing for a long time.
The interesting thing about Mr. Salem Ali is that every year he becomes more passionate in working with community organizations to better our status here in Michigan. Since he retired from his job, he is giving full potential to the service of our community.
Mr. Salem Ali, always encourages our youth to be faithful to Allah, to respect their parents, continue their education to higher levels, and to give back to their home country.
Mr. Salem Ali is really a role model to future generations. His hard work, community service, and generosity made him a focal point in not just the Yemeni community, but the Arabic community as a whole.
The advice that Mr. Salem Ali gives to the parents in our community, is that they need to become more involved in their children’s lives. The parents should not forget to teach their children the Arabic language and most importantly the reading of the Holy Quran.
Mr. Salem Ali is a strong support of the Yemeni American Net, and he finds it to be one of the strongest accomplishments that have been ever made here in our community. He would like to personally thank the Yemeni American Net team for all the work they do, and encourages the community to support them by any means.
