Our conversation this week is about “Making Christ real in the home.” As Orthodox Christians this is an important question: How do we make Christ real in our homes? It is so easy to just become Sunday Christians where, Christianity becomes to some people at least, something that they do on Sunday only. What about the rest of the week? Their ways, attitudes, language and behavior may be far away from Christianity completely. How then do we make Christ a central part of everyday family life? Tune into our conversation to learn more about this important subject.

Copts and race in America is certainly an interesting subject that brings to mind many questions, particular incidents and views. For example, after 911, on September 15, 2001, Adel Karas, a forty-eight-year-old Coptic Christian, and father of three, was shot and killed at his convenience store in San Gabriel, California. Most likely mistaken for a Muslim by his perpetrators. The second bizarre incident is one that my guest mentioned previously, of a young Copt visiting the Bible Museum in DC and was arrested for no reason and interrogated by the FBI. Again, another case of stereotyping and mistaken identity. How does American society and politicians in DC in particular view the Copts, do they consider us a single-issue race, meaning that we are only interested in the plight of the Copts in Egypt or is this view changing and Copts now are more involved in many issues concerning wider American life? These and many other questions concerning Copts and race in America will be discussed in this episode with my special guest Dr Candace Lukasik.

Resources:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19436149.2016.1144910

https://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2020/03/05/middle-eastern-christians-and-the-us-immigration-debate/?fbclid=IwAR2BS4xx5e26J9o84cm3PD0QuAJmZv4SlwH2OaoNhDERd0u8mrCdhnOFJtc

https://publicorthodoxy.org/2019/03/12/rami-malek-and-contentions-of-coptic-identity/

https://www.candacelukasik.com/research

https://thecchp.com/2019/10/27/interview-with-candace-lukasik-transnational-anxieties/

Supplemental Resources:

https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/the-chaldeans-politics-and-identity-in-iraq-and-the-american-diaspora/

https://sojo.net/articles/american-protestantisms-commodification-middle-east-s-holy-lands

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40543386?seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41858491?seq=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gb8cP1Eiuk

https://elmahabacenter.com

https://thecchp.com/2020/06/03/a-coptic-call-for-solidarity/

This episode rotates around the topic of Coptic immigration to North America. Copts began immigrating to the US as early as the late 1940’s. After 1952, the rate of Coptic immigration from Egypt to Canada and the United States increased. Immigration to Canada outpaced the US until the inauguration of more lenient procedures in 1965. In general, Coptic immigration rose steadily throughout North America, Europe, and Australia in the coming decades. We see a further influx of Copts to the US and Canada after the 2011 revolution in Egypt, fleeing instability and violence there. With hundreds of Coptic Orthodox churches in the United States alone (along with over 90 congregations in Canada), it is estimated that there are over one million Coptic Orthodox Christians in North America. Coptic immigration has so many facets to it and we obviously cannot cover everything in one episode, but we will discuss some important aspects in this episode.

Resources: Dr Candace Lukasik: https://thecchp.com/2017/06/25/land-migration-and-memory/ https://publicorthodoxy.org/2018/08/27/modernity-murder-and-coptic-identity/ https://publicorthodoxy.org/2020/02/20/copts-debating-christmas/

https://salamamoussa.com/2018/03/17/immigration-and-the-reinvention-of-identity-part-i/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/coptic-church/555515/

Dr Michael Akladios Peer-Reviewed

“Heteroglossia, Interpretation and the Experiences of Coptic Immigrants from Egypt in North America, 1955-1975,” Histoire Sociale / Social History 53.109 (Fall 2020): [pre-print online].

“Navigating Sacred Spaces: Coptic Immigrants in 1960s Toronto,” Left History 21.1 (Fall/Winter 2018): 109-122. Editorials Co-authored with Candace Lukasik,

“Debating Christmas Day: Copts, Calendars and the Immigrants’ Church,” Public Orthodoxy, February 20, 2020.

“Interview with Michael Akladios: Mundane Transnationalism,” CCHP, November 24, 2019.

“Stop Victim-Blaming Egypt’s Copts,” Mada Masr English, November 5, 2018 / “توقفوا عن لوم الضحايا من أقباط مصر,” Mada Masr, November 13, 2018.

“Celebrating ‘Ordinary’: The CCHP and the Coptic Immigrant Experience,” Coptic Voice US, October 23, 2018.

“Conversations with Egyptian Uber Drivers: Why Emigrate? Why Canada?” Active History, October 2, 2017.

“Arab-Canadian Foodscapes and Authenticity,” Active History, May 12, 2016.

Links

The CCHP has facilitated the collection and preservation of letters, photographs, books, magazines, and academic journals documenting the Coptic experience in Canada. The records are available for consultation at the Clara Thomas Archives, York University. https://thecchp.com/archives/

The CCHP welcomes submissions of scholarly articles and immigrants’ stories for publication. Please follow the link to find the guidelines and information on how to submit. https://thecchp.com/about/digital-cafe-2/

To learn about the transition to Egypt Migrations, visit: https://thecchp.com/2020/09/06/from-cchp-to-egypt-migrations/