. >> major funding for "arab american stories" was provided by mohamed and jamie el-erian, the arab american community of michigan, the arab american community of houston, texas, the american syrian arab cultural association of michigan. additional funding was provided by... [captioning made possible by friends of nci] >> these artists have all found new expression in their work by coming to america. oud player and composer rahim alhaj fled iraq for political reasons. now he fuses middle eastern and western influences together in his music. malika zarra was born in morocco, grew up in france, and found a creative home in new york's multi-cultural music scene. and detroit artist adnan charara explores the idea of identities, personally and cosmically, in his painting and sculpture. virtuoso oud player and composer rahim alhaj explores both eastern and western musical traditions in an innovative, contemporary style all his own. >> doves and homing pigeons, for me, is connected to my childhood, because in iraq culture, we care about homing pigeons. i've been in the united states more than 12 ye

>> major funding for "arab american stories" was provided by mohamed and jamie el-erian; the arab american community of michigan; the arab american community of houston, texas; the american syrian arab cultural association of michigan. additional funding was provided by... >> america has always been a home for entrepreneurs. with singular vision and hard work, nawal motawi, the daoud brothers, and moose scheib have all built thriving businesses. in 1992, egyptian american artist and entrepreneur nawal motawi started motawi tileworks, where art, life, and work are integrated in a flourishing design business. >> i started motawi tileworks in a garage. i started with one employee--me. i gained another person in the business. it was a brother of mine who actually became a business partner of mine for 16 years. so for a long time, there were two of us. i took my tile to the farmer's market, which cost $11 a day. we had to get up at 7:00 in the morning and take tile over there and hawked tile next to the rutabaga seller. right now, motawi has 25 employees plus 5 more in the claymaking business.

. >> major funding for "arab american stories" was provided by mohamed and jamie el-erian; the arab american community of michigan; the arab american community of houston, texas; the american syrian arab cultural association of michigan. additional funding was provided by... [captioning made possible by friends of nci] >> community is at the heart of american life. social services provider and activist linda sarsour serves new immigrants and youth in bay ridge, brooklyn. imam taha tawil maintains spiritual vitality at the oldest mosque in america in cedar rapids, iowa. dean obeidallah performs across the country with a group of comedians who shatter popular myths and stereotypes. linda sarsour represents a new generation of arab americans dedicated to service. her fierce brooklyn spirit drives her leadership both locally and on the national stage. >> ♪ whoa whoa ♪ >> [speaking arabic] my name is linda sarsour. i'm the director at the arab american association of new york. i am born and raised in brooklyn. i'm a social worker, an activist, and a mom. [telephone rings] arab american. how may i

. >> major funding for "arab american stories" was provided by mohamed and jamie el-erian, the arab american community of michigan, the arab american community of houston, texas, the american syrian arab cultural association of michigan. additional funding was provided by... >> the united states prides itself on being a nation of innovators, and these arab americans are part of that tradition. imad mahawili saw a problem in the third world and set out to fix it. amir abo-shaeer created a program that inspires students to seek math and science careers. and brian and leon dewan have invention in their blood and music in their souls. they marry the two in something they call dewanatron. with an eye towards a greener future, dr. imad mahawili envisions a day when wind will become a significant source of power. his latest invention is a small wind turbine designed to reach some of the world's 1.6 billion people without electricity. >> we will need to check the junction box before we do this test again. >> i am the chief technical officer. i'm one of two founders for windtronics, a company that's