The Necessity for Marginalized Stories Today and Always, a guest post by Wahab Algarmi

Growing up, I didn’t have Arab American stories to turn to. As a kid, if I wanted Arab stories, I had to consume my parent’s entertainment which was completely old, stuffy, boring, and literally foreign to me. No kid, Arab or otherwise, wants to sit through poorly recorded VHS taped stage plays from the 70s when there are cartoons available!

Even in a diverse place like the San Francisco Bay Area, the Arab community still only makes up a very small percentage of the overall American population. So I grew up consuming and learning more about mainstream American culture and other minorities than I did anything about Arab American culture.

My own background was foreign to me. Being Arab, being Muslim, was something I knew nothing about.

Today though, Arab American Muslims have our own (popular) super heroes like Ms Marvel / Kamala Khan. We have great stories about the Arab diaspora or Arab American experiences like the award winning TV shows Mo and Ramy, respectively. There are amazing comedians like Hassan Minhaj giving a Muslim American perspective on global politics. We have beautifully illustrated children’s stories like The Proudest Blue series by Ibtihaj Muhammed, S. K. Ali, and Hatem Aly. Some school districts across the country even celebrate Islamic holidays with a day off. Today’s Arab American / Muslim community has a lot going for it in terms of representation.

We’ve clearly made it. Arabs and Muslims are now a serious part of America. Our stories, culture, and voices are starting to be heard. Arabs and Muslims have moved past being the mysterious villains of 9/11.

So why would I need to consider making a comic about being Arab, or celebrating Ramadan, or Arab culture in general when I can make comics about any number of the goofy things I enjoy? A holiday book, really? Americans know what Ramadan is, right? Even autocorrect knows what it is.

Well, frankly, I was asked to write Almost Sunset. It never occurred to me to create a story like this on my own. But once I did take on the task, I saw the potential to write a story that could resonate with my Arab American Muslim community while also keeping the main character, Hassan, separate from his religious and cultural identity, and in doing so, making him more relatable to mainstream America.

Almost Sunset is a story about a religious kid during a religious celebration, but it’s not a religious story.

Making a story about a religious holiday, not religious, was a very important balancing point for me. I didn’t want to preach to anyone. Being preached to feels off putting and is the opposite of the welcoming familiarity I was going for. On the contrary, I wanted people to see the similarities in Hassan’s life to their own lives. No matter a person’s background, I wanted them to relate to him and his worries, first and foremost.

Ramadan or not, everyone can become overwhelmed in their everyday life. People compartmentalize their relationships. Trying to be a part of something bigger than oneself is noteworthy and should be recognized.

These are Hassan’s struggles and goals in Almost Sunset. These are the familiar topics I leaned the story on during the backdrop of Ramadan. These are everyday topics that can translate to readers of any cultural background.

And looking back, I’m glad I created such a story, because clearly, we are not past the point in America where Arabs and Muslims are seen in a negative light. If the 2024 election has proven anything to me, it’s that a lot of communities were feeling marginalized, Arab Americans included. This resulted in a historic shift in political alignment for Arab Americans from the Democratic party to the Republican or third party.

And whether you are left leaning, right leaning, or something else entirely in your politics, you have to wonder why the Arab American vote was such a huge talking point in the 2024 presidential election.

With the increased fighting in the Middle East has come an increase in violence and anti Arab rhetoric towards Arabs and Muslims in America. Are we back to being vilified and silenced in our own country? The last year has been bleak and that shouldn’t be the case.

Earlier, I asked why I thought a story like Almost Sunset is needed since Arab American Muslim voices are finally being heard in everyday American culture. But unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, minorities will always need to make their voices and stories heard.

Sharing different stories and cultures is the American way of life, the American tapestry. And Arab American Muslims are a part of that connection.

It falls on creatives like me to be a voice for our various communities, at the very least, to remind the majority that we are present. And, at our very best, our stories resonate with more than just our communities and we are able to bridge the differences and find that commonality that connects us to the American mainstream.

As creatives, we shouldn’t have to, but we have to.

My hope is that Almost Sunset will become a well read staple for many Arab American Muslims and that general audiences will also get a peek into said culture and see the similarities in their own lives. After all, a good story will connect people, no matter their background.

Meet the author

Wahab Algarmi is a writer and comic artist. He has been creating comics and a community space for other artists in the San Francisco Bay Area for years. Some of his past comic work includes The Society of Unordinary Young Ladies, which has been well reviewed by numerous news outlets, including the Comics Beat, Newsarama, and USA Today. He was also a recent recipient of one the inaugural grants from the city of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Division, the Akonadi Foundation, and the East Bay Community Foundation for his comic work Town Force 1 and the Battle for East Oakland. For years, he also worked with another arts nonprofit, Kearny Street Workshop, to spotlight emerging Asian American artists. He currently lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and children.

https://www.instagram.com/wahabalg

About Almost Sunset

In a contemporary middle grade graphic novel debut that Gene Luen Yang calls “funny, endearing, and an intimate look at a Muslim family,” Almost Sunset follows a young Muslim American boy during Ramadan as he finds the balance between his family traditions and his secular middle school life. Perfect for fans of Swim Team and Chunky.

It’s almost sunset, and Hassan has been dreaming about eating since the sun came up. The month of Ramadan has begun, and not eating until sundown intensifies his already busy days full of homework, soccer, and gaming. And since his teachers and friends at school barely understand Ramadan and its traditions, it’s easier to just…not mention it.

As the month stretches on, Hassan’s family and community grow closer together. They wake up before sunrise every morning, feast when the sun goes down, and attend mosque in the evenings. Can Hassan balance it all during the hectic holy month—faith, tradition, school, and fun, too?

ISBN-13: 9780063355668
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 02/18/2025
Pages: 224
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

Filed under: Guest Post