FORMER HAMTRAMCK COUNCILMAN ABDUL ALGAZALI DIES

After suffering many months of illness, Hamtramck chiropractor Dr. Abdul Algazali, died of cancer at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan on February 13, 2014. The Yemeni-American doctor served for many years as City Councilman and previously as Human Relations Commissioner. He ran for the mayoral office twice and lost by a small margin of votes.

Hamtramck Councilman
Abdul Algazali

A longtime resident of Hamtramck, Algazali was the only Arab in the history of the city to be elected to public office. He explained why he ran for office, “it’s not the money for sure, rather, there’s a large segment of the community whose voice is not being heard, and I want to indicate to those people that this is America and everyone’s voice should count.” His campaign slogan was always “One Goal – One City – One Future”.

Most statistics indicate that the Yemeni community is the largest ethnic group in a city that used to be primarily Polish. With three large ethnic groups representing the Islamic faith, Yemeni, Bangladeshi and Bosnian, Hamtramck has possibly the largest percentage of Muslims of any American city, estimated near 65%. Although Dearborn hosts the largest number of Arabs outside the Middle East, many are Christian, and most are from other countries besides Yemen.

Hamtramck Councilman Algazali in front of City Hall

Bill Meyer, Director of OneHamtramck, LLC was a close friend of Algazali and helped him in his campaigns for the office of mayor. "As a councilman, Algazali ran into fierce opposition from the entrenched political machine, often being isolated not only for his views but his ethnicity and background. His style was one of calm and reason, a rare quality in the council chambers.” Meyer adds, “he was not the typical politician, spending very little time and money to be elected, rather focusing on human relations in the community." His interests were always concerned with the economic plight of his constituents. Hamtramck has the lowest income per capita of any city in Michigan and has faced serious hardships with the closing of major factories and stores resulting in the massive loss of city revenue, forcing the presence of outside financial managers.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Algazali worked towards bringing the disparate ethnic groups that flourish in Hamtramck together with better understanding and respect. His favorite quote was from former President John Kennedy, “I believe in America where the separation between Church and state is absolute…Where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference, and no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”

Funeral arrangements will be announced soon.