Eye on the Triangle

Emilia Rivadeneira 0:00
The views and opinions expressed during Eye on the Triangle do not represent WKNC or NC State. Student Media,

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Good morning everyone. Hope you're enjoying your day. My name is Emilia Rivadeneira host of Eye on the Triangle. And with further ado, let's get into some news. You

early voting in North Carolina is currently live the in person early voting period for the 2024 general election started on Thursday, October 17, 2024 and it ends at 3pm on Saturday, November, 2 2024 for North Carolina State University students tally Student Union is actually serving as an in person early voting site, Monday to Friday, from 8am to 7:30pm Saturdays from 8am to 3pm Sundays from 1pm to 6pm the general election is on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, and Tally Student Union is not an election day site. You

for information about where to find your designated polling location for Election Day. Eye on the Triangle has actually done a voter's guide in which, besides, just like adding links to where you can find your designated polling location, we also include helpful resources and websites that you can access to find information on what you'll find on the ballot. Learn about candidates through non partisan voter resources and more. So if you want to check that out, visit wknc.org/category/blog/non,

music slash and you'll be able to find eye On the triangle's 2024 elections voters guide

in other news, the North Carolina State Fair is finally here, this attraction that is honestly for everyone, all ages, and it's the place to be at every fall from Thursday october 17 till Sunday, October 27 2024 rest. Residents in the triangle area and everywhere in North Carolina really will have the chance to just enjoy this famous attraction and this famous just like fair that comes to Raleigh every single fall. And I on the triangle will be there to cover a special program in which yours truly will take you along for the ride. This program, however, will not air next Monday, as you know, per usual transmission at 11am but instead, this special program on the NC State Fair will be transmitted live on Friday at 11am so tune in.

Next up, we have Menna El Sayyad with an interview with the Vice President of the triangle Lebanese American Center to know more about it, stroll and Lebanese immigrants in the triangle area.

Menna El Sayyad 4:19
Hey, this is Menna El Sayyad for eye on the triangle, and today I am talking to Seema Haider, the Vice President of the triangle Lebanese American Center. Welcome to the show.

Sima Haida 4:30
Thank you for having me.

Menna El Sayyad 4:31
Thank you for joining us. So we're going to start the show and we're going to talk about the center, of course, but first I wanted to ask you to tell us more about the Lebanese community here in North Carolina in general. Like, what's the history? If there is a date of when Lebanese community started to move to North Carolina?

Sima Haida 4:51
Yeah, of course. So the history dates back pretty far around the late 1890s le. Started immigrating to North Carolina, specifically in search for a better future, and they went into business, and it kind of spread across the state, and then that's where we've gotten to today. We have a pretty large Lebanese population here.

Menna El Sayyad 5:16
That sounds amazing. I guess I have two follow up questions. First, why do you think doesn't have to be based on any factual idea, but why do you think Lebanese people choose North Carolina to move to, like in the US, if there's a specific reason, and is there like a demographic of North Carolina? Which cities does have more like Lebanese population? Yeah,

Sima Haida 5:37
absolutely. I think this is also just my opinion, North Carolina is very similar to Lebanon. We have, you know, in Lebanon, we have the beach, the mountains and snow and all types of weather. And North Carolina is pretty much, we always say, just a much larger version of Lebanon. So it's attractive in that way. And I think, like most immigrant populations, one comes here, and the rest follow, and they bring their friends. There's a lot of business opportunity here, and that's kind of what the Lebanese are best at doing.

Menna El Sayyad 6:08
Yeah, sounds amazing. I actually haven't, haven't made this comparison in my head, but you're right. Lebanon was such a beautiful country, with all the nature and the mountains and the sea and North Carolina actually resembles a lot of that. That makes sense. So now we can talk about triangle, Lebanese, American Center. And if you can tell us more about its founding, how it come to be, and what's mission statement right now?

Sima Haida 6:31
Sure. So it was founded in 1986 by John Nader. And do me a sa I know John was American, born with Lebanese heritage, and do me had immigrated here from Lebanon after the Civil War, and they just came together, and they wanted, essentially, to make a home away from home for the Lebanese that come here. It started very small, and now it's grown to over 100 families in the area that are part of our organization. It is centered around being nonprofit. It's nonprofit, non political, non religious. It has a board. It's very well organized, some would say, a little bit more so than our Lebanese government. But it's run by just family generations, and it's Welcome to anyone that comes from Lebanon or has any Lebanese heritage. So it's grown very rapidly in the most recent years too.

Menna El Sayyad 7:29
I myself attended a couple of the events for the center, and they're amazing, and they're really well organized. So speaking of that, if you can talk us a little bit more about the activities and events that the center has for for the public,

Sima Haida 7:46
sure. So our mission is basically to spread awareness of Lebanese culture, share it with our American culture, and then also to be that home away from home for any Lebanese that come here, we have, what we say, a position that's like a town mayor. So if you hear of anyone who's Lebanese and they're new to the area, we welcome them in like family. Our events are really organized around showcasing our culture and spreading that awareness to our local communities. So we hold our annual Lebanese festival every year. I think we're on our 23rd year coming up on our 24th year of doing it historically. It was held in downtown Raleigh, and now it's being held at our center, which is actually called BA, which is in Arabic. It means our home. And we own that property, and we're very proud of it. We hold Independence Day events, and then we hold educational events. Our organization also has an Arabic school, which is also non religious, non political, and we teach Arabic. It's open to Lebanese, but also to non Lebanese and just English speakers who learn the Arabic language. We have teachers from Lebanon that teach it directly, and then we have local teachers as well, and that's done every week. We have DEP kid classes. And so we have several dance groups that do our traditional dance. They perform at our festival. I myself was in our DEP kid group for about 20 years, and I coached it as well, and it's just a fantastic way to be in touch with our own culture and then showcase it to the outside world. Yeah, that

Menna El Sayyad 9:30
sounds amazing. I can attest to how amazing your dad cook group are in the events I have been to. And I actually, like, I didn't know that the Lebanese center had Arabic classes, which is very interesting. And guess that leads me to a question, and maybe you've touched on a little bit. But who who can attend these events, and if they want to attend at work, and they hear about it, what avenues are there?

Sima Haida 9:53
So we have a membership. If you're Lebanese, if not, you can pay for this membership. It's very small fee. It's an eight. Annual fee. The only thing that keeps you, the only thing that is, you know, to get you into our membership is if you join that and get the fee. We have a membership list. We do a newsletter. We're on Instagram and on Facebook. You can find us at the tlac, and we advertise everything on there. We try to do parties and events. The Arabic school is truly open to everyone, and if you become a member, you can join the school. Members get a discounted price, and then they also get access to our building as well for rentals at a discount. Sounds

Menna El Sayyad 10:37
amazing. So given the kind of activities that the center organizes, I was wondering with what's happening in Lebanon right now, what role and maybe impact on the Lebanese community here in North Carolina, has the center taken part in Yeah,

Sima Haida 10:54
so our community has been deeply impacted by What's happening, and back home. Many of our actual community members have families that have been displaced. Some of my own family members have fled. And you know, it's really a tragedy. We are working towards a humanitarian effort, so we fundraise for the Lebanese Red Cross and send that back home. We just recently had a 5k walk that was directly for fundraising for the Lebanese Red Cross, and then we just held a vigil on Monday, just to be to show that we're mourning the loss of those lives. I think the TLA as an organization is really there to be the support system for our community while they grieve, and be the place for all of us to come together and kind of discuss when we may feel isolated outside of that community. Without our community, I think we would all feel very isolated, and this allows us to all come together. Yeah, I'm

Menna El Sayyad 11:59
so sorry to hear this happened to your family? Yeah, I was reading in the mission statement, and was talking about like culture exchange in one of the one of the components, not just social culture, but also humanitarian endeavors. And I feel this is really quite impactful, that you work on both avenues, sharing the culture, which is the amazing part of the Lebanese culture, but also not turning a blind eye and just being there for the community. And it's amazing to see like a Lebanese community in North Carolina in the USA, is able to provide funds and help Lebanese population in Lebanon. So that sounds amazing to

Sima Haida 12:34
do as much as we can. Our big focus is too on education. So outside of outside of tragedy, we do come together and try to sponsor students to come to North Carolina and learn. We're working towards fundraising for Lebanon and for people in our community as well.

Menna El Sayyad 12:52
So yeah, that sounds amazing. Thank you so much. And yeah, I personally really appreciate and I hope to participate more in this. So now I guess I want to move on to you and just asking you how, how did you get involved with the Lebanese American Center and came to your role? You said you're a board member and you're the vice president. So tell me the story. This

Sima Haida 13:16
is a very funny story. It's also probably very similar to most of the people within our community, but my parents moved to the United States from the civil war in Lebanon, and they made their way to North Carolina. So when I was about maybe seven years old, I was told that I was joining our dance group, the dupki group. For this organization, they met a family that's Lebanese, and they told them to come to Raleigh. And that's what made my parents move to Raleigh. And then when we got here, we were told there's this organization, there's a deputy group you should join. So I went unwillingly at the time, but when I got there, I, you know, I fell in love with it, and I was in the dance group. I was enrolled in the Arabic school, and then I met my best friends, my childhood friends, the closest people to me in my life. They're of Lebanese heritage, and I don't know my life would be very different without this organization. I stuck with the DEP key. I stayed with it for 20 years, and then I coached the the many different groups for over a decade as well, you know. And then I got more and more involved. My mother was actually on the board for almost 20 years. She was the vice president, the president. She made her way around. And the same goes for most of our board members right now, our parents are the generation that started the organization. They ran the board, they organized it, they laid the foundation for it, and now it's their children's generation that's taking over and pushing it forward. And it's nice to see, because the children's generation we are the ones that were born in the United States. It's unlike our parents who came here from Lebanon, and it has provided us with a community that we wouldn't have without this organization. Yeah, and

Menna El Sayyad 15:08
Liz, sounds like your story is really the exemplary story for how the whole community comes together and then, like it's a circle with the community also provides the management of the center, so it's really beautiful. And, yeah, when you said the devke for children, I remember little children doing the dance moves, which actually worth telling our listeners, like, what is devke for people who doesn't know it?

Sima Haida 15:30
Yeah, that would be a good explanation. So DEP key is actually our traditional dance. It involves a lot of stomping and yelling and a lot of shaking, and it's just probably Lebanon's biggest pride, right? We do it to celebrate at weddings and any sort of happy time we perform. We try to perform in as many events as possible. I know at NC State, we've performed, we've performed at UNC, we've done the opening of the heidella Center at NC State. We actually performed for the opening of it. We even performed for there was a Lebanese immigrant museum opening for the North Carolina Museum of History. We actually performed at that when the exhibit was still there. We were actually part of the exhibit as well, but the DEP gear is our pride and joy. But I will say also I now have children, and my son watches deputy videos every single day.

Menna El Sayyad 16:30
Yeah, just just keep passing the traditions down, I guess, with our blood. So so this leads me to the next question, what personally for you is activity? Your favorite activity does the center has, in terms of you said, Debka. You said, there's the festival, there's Arabic teaching. For you personally, Which part did you maybe, as you said, you were part in the joining in the event. So Which event did you like joining and now organizing, being part of the center itself?

Sima Haida 17:01
Yeah. So I would say our largest event is the Lebanese Festival, and it is also my favorite event, because that's where we get to be the most creative. I've participated in the Lebanese festival for the majority of my life, and now I, as the Vice President, I am very much responsible for putting that event on. So I really I appreciate my parents efforts, and now I see how hard they work to put it on, but it is really fun to come up with ideas and talk to young people in our own community that are younger than us and have better ideas. And now we're really connecting to a lot of Lebanese that are coming from Lebanon, and they're coming with fresh ideas, and this organization really provides them an opportunity to say what they want, without the politics of Lebanon, which is really nice. It's the basis of our culture, and it's really awesome to get to do,

Menna El Sayyad 18:00
yeah? I mean, really well said there. I feel like there has to be avenues to really connect, like a beautiful community, like the Lebanese community, without all the politics that can be involved in other avenues as well. So with that being said, I want to thank you so much Sima for joining us and sharing with us a lot about the triangle, Lebanese American Center here in North Carolina. Thank you so much for being our guest today, and this was me now. Sayed for eyes on the triangle. Thank you.

Sima Haida 18:28
Thank you for having me.

Emilia Rivadeneira 18:39
This has been your host. Emilia reineda, thanks for listening to Eye on the Triangle for back episodes of the show, go to WKNC dog or slash podcasts. Music In today's episode is Krakatoa by Noah Stark, licensed under creative commons.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai