Ismael Ahmed touched nearly every part of life in metro Detroit at some point in his 78 years on this planet.
Ahmed, who died Jan. 31, co-founded the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Service, which grew into a powerhouse agency that serves people across metro Detroit. With the UAW, he helped form the Arab Workers Caucus to fight against discrimination targeting Arab American autoworkers. He led the state’s health and human services department during the Granholm administration, and served as an associate provost at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He co-founded the Arab American National Museum.
A public celebration of Ahmed’s life is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.
Ahmed’s family asks that in lieu of flowers, friends and supporters donate to the Concert of Colors, a free music and arts festival in Detroit that Ahmed founded to celebrate the region’s diversity. During a festival afternoon in 2025, one could hop from a food truck near “The Thinker” in front of the Detroit Institute of Arts to Bollywood dancing on the front lawn of the DIA, then over to the Detroit Film Theatre for an evening of rock ‘n’ roll from around the globe, including a quintessential Detroit show hosted by Don Was.
As people gather Sunday to honor Ahmed, they’ll surely recall his warm voice, which was a mainstay on WDET-FM (101.9), where he hosted the show “This Island Earth.” It was essentially a taste of Concert of Colors every week, when listeners (“planetary citizens” as Ahmed called them) often heard Ahmed say: “We’re all in it together. Take care of each other.”
‘Celebration of Life, in honor of Ismael Ahmed’
1 p.m. – 3 p.m., Sunday Feb. 8Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave., Dearborn
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Celebration of life planned for activist, arts leader Ismael Ahmed
Reporting by Detroit Free Press staff, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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