Welcome to my web page. I have tried over the years to help audiences better understand the Arab American experience and the Palestine-Israel conflict, define the moderate Arab and Palestinian voice in these discussions, and promote non-violence, peace based on compromise, but more importantly, understanding.
I began in journalism in 1976 and have spent more than 30 years i all aspects of communications. Communications is a broad field that not only includes the "News Media" but also includes other forms of "media" such as television, radio, Hollywood movies, theater, public relations and public speaking.
What you will find on these pages appears to be a very broad range of activity. Some see all of the forms of communications I have identified as being separate and unrelated. In truth, public perception on any topic is molded through a mix of all of the above forms of communications.
I took a sabatical from journalism in 1992 and spent 8 years in professional media relations. I even ran for public office, in part, to understand firsthand how the communications process works in the United States. I covered politics from the outside as a journalist, and experienced the communications coverage of politics from the inside as a candidate for local legislative office. I have even worked for more than 50 elected officials, candidates and Fortune 200 corporations and clients managing election campaigns, defining messaging and crafting corporate communications strategies.
In the end, I discovered, it is all related.
After Sept. 11, I decided to add one more component of effective communications to my communications resume and I entered professional standup comedy. Humor is the most powerful form of communications, and applied properly can be the most effective, especially in combatting intensely emotional controversies and issues.
I write columns on all topics from Chicago and Illinois politics -- my first love -- to Middle East and international politics, one that I have been forced into addressing to earn a living, and in response to public demand. I perform standup comedy around the world. I also speak on political topics, on the power of humor and on effective communications to audiences.
I also speak to mainstream American and Jewish American audiences on defining the moderate Arab and Palestinian voice. I speak to Arab AMerican groups ont he need to understand not simply respond to mainstream media biases and stereotypes.
If you are interested in bringing me to your campus, organization, community group, church, mosque or synagogue, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will do whatever I can to help you make the program effective and educational and rewarding to your audience.
Thanks.
RAY HANANIA
