The Khayrallah Center’s newest podcast series, Voices of the Mahjar, shares the experiences of Arabs and Arab Americans living in the diaspora. In our most recent episodes, Khayrallah Center Director Dr. Akram Khater and NC State Assistant Professor Dr. Elizabeth Saylor interviewed self-identified Syrian American Brooklynite Robert Mitchell Haddad. The Khayrallah Center is fortunate to have spoken with Bob before his passing at the age of ninety-three on March 8, 2024. This two-episode podcast is dedicated to his legacy.

In Episode 1, Bob Haddad discusses his childhood in Brooklyn, New York, in the 1930s and 1940s. His memories are situated within the context of a bustling urban neighborhood filled with lively families, friendships, languages, and foods. Bob’s sentimental nostalgia for street sports with old friends, shared neighborhood meals, and holiday activities speaks to the camaraderie that infused Brooklyn’s neighborhood of Syrian immigrants.

In addition to his upbringing, Bob describes his parents — Nadra Haddad and Hadbo Haddad — and their immigration to the United States in the early twentieth century. Bob traces their journeys from Homs, Syria, to various places in the United States before their eventual settlement in Brooklyn. His oral history emphasizes the challenges — as well as the lasting accomplishments and vibrant communities — Syrian immigrants experienced and built once in the United States. Bob remembers:

“It was a very large family, even in Brooklyn. I think within walking distance of where I grew up, there must have been maybe seventy, eighty relatives no more distant than second cousins who were there. And I must say the food was magnificent as I passed by under the window of a relative and would be invited in to have the latest kibbe, waraq, baklava, and so on.” – Episode 1

Bob’s recollection of his early years in Brooklyn’s Syrian enclave echoes the experiences of other second-generation Syrian Americans growing up in the early to mid-twentieth century. Their forebears were among the nearly 100,000 migrants from Greater Syria who arrived in the United States between 1880 and 1930. Their reasons for leaving were as varied as Syrian migrants themselves. Some sought to escape difficult marriages, reunite with family, or embark upon new adventures. Others pursued education and economic opportunities, made possible by more affordable and faster steamship travel and expanding global networks of information and people. These considerations factored into the difficult decisions emigrants made when choosing to leave their homes and travel to “Amirka.” Once there, Syrian immigrant communities, such as that established in Brooklyn, formed and a new generation of Syrian-Americans — including Bob — emerged.

In Episode 2, Bob reflects on the valuable and unique history of the Arabic newspaper al-Sayeh. Bob’s father and uncle — Nadra Haddad and ‘Abd al-Masih Haddad — founded al-Sayeh in 1912 and ran its printing offices on Fifth Avenue. Bob recounts his memories working in the office as a child and discusses the role of al-Sayeh as a literary outlet for Al-Rabita al-Qalamiyya. Al-Rabita was the first Arab American literary group in the United States. Through al-Sayeh, Al-Rabita members celebrated and disseminated Arabic literature to this growing population of Syrian immigrants in America. Prominent literary figures in al-Rabita included Nasib Arida, Mikhail Na’imy, and Kahlil Gibran. Bob recalls:

“Arabs love their poets. I think it’s a very nice and unusual relationship. They really like their writers, I believe that. And this was part of the prestige he accrued. You know, I think the newspaper journal al-Sayeh was originally Abd al-Masih’s idea. And, you know, my father went along with it because his Arabic was strong. You know, they were devoted to their native tongue… But it was also, for a time, the vehicle for Al-Rabita al-Qalamiyya. You know, the writers of Al-Rabita to publish there. And there were some special issues of the journal which are really collector’s items still. You know, gathering under one cover the work by Gibran, Naimy, and so forth and so on.” – Episode 2

Through his reflections on Al-Rabita, Bob tells the story of a community of Syrian immigrants brought together by their love of the Arabic language, common cultural touchstones, and shared connections to the homes left in the Middle East. Within the broader context of the Mahjar movement, al-Rabita bolstered Syrian identity in the United States and captured ongoing cultural developments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century diaspora.

Episode 2 concludes with Bob’s consideration of what it means to be “Syrian American” as well as generational differences within the Syrian American population. The prominent role Arabic literature played in Bob’s family history leads him to reflect on how culture and tradition change over time. He also, however, stresses the complex ways in which immigrants hold onto and cherish their homelands while simultaneously adopting American identities, sharing:

“Obviously be proud of your heritage. But I know full well that it’s hard in the United States to maintain it. They lose the language. They lose the religion, too. That sense of community that I enjoyed just because I was closer to, chronologically, closer to the original settlers and the original emigres. And, you know, I understand it’s very hard to maintain that affiliation. It’s characteristic of hyphenated Americans, you know, that you may pick up some, you know, kitchen Arabic growing up, but gradually the language is lost.” – Episode 2

Bob’s experiences as a second-generation Syrian American speak to the complexities and challenges faced by many immigrants and their descendants as they forged their own identities in the United States. In a country that, as Bob describes, frequently belittled and racially excluded Syrian Americans, making a living and finding a sense of belonging was not easy. Despite these obstacles, Syrian Americans’ unique journeys navigating both Syrian and American cultures kindled tightly-knit communities that have thrived and transformed across generations. Although Bob’s story in Brooklyn took place eighty years ago, his insights on second-generation immigrant identity and belonging can continue to resonate with immigrants and their descendants today.

“As far as the United States is concerned, you know, I mentioned that my father had been a peddler, you know, in his early years in the United States. And he really appreciated — he said, ‘Those are real Americans!‘ — you know, these people, farmers, and whatever to whom they sold their goods in the Northwest. He had an abiding love for this country. He told me once, you know, ‘We’re Americans, but we can still love Syria.‘ Those were his words. And I never lost that. Yeah, we’re Americans, but we can still love Syria.” – Episode 1

If you are interested in hearing more of Bob Haddad’s story, Episodes 1 and 2 of Voices of the Mahjar are available on the Khayrallah Center’s Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud.