Arab American National Museum Alex Moslimani Transcript 2009.47.

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DO This is an oral history interview, conducted on the 28 of October, 2009, at the Arab American National Museum, between Deborah Deacon Odette and Alex Moslimani. Alex could you spell your name, please? AM First name Alex, A-L-E-X, last name Moslimani, M-O-S-L-I-M-A-N-I. DO And what is your address please? AM 4023 Firestone, thats one word, F-I-R-E-S-T-O-N-E, and thats Dearborn, Michigan. DO What do you know about your family name, if anything? AM Um, good question. Um, I my father and mother are from Lebanon, and they had a wonderful childhood and young adulthood in Lebanon, and their upbringing was that of great values, great morals, a lot of the things you dont see in families today, where the priority was the family and their love and caring and sincerity was for their kids. And that was brought over when they came over at a very young age, to Dearborn. DO Do you know when your father and mother came to Dearborn? Or came to the United States from Lebanon, I should say. AM I think my father was around 19 and my mother 17. DO And what year would that have been, approximately? If you know? AM Uh, well my Dad is 79, and were 2009, . What is that, minus - sixty years ago? DO Sixty years ago. 1950, approximately? AM Right in that ball park. DO OK. And were they married when they came? AM Yes. DO - Did they come together? AM No, they were married. DO OK. So they came together. AM Yes. DO OK. Um, are there any naming traditions in your family, any nicknames, any names passed down through generations? AM Names were passed down from relatives, from one to another as children were being born. DO Can you give an example? AM Um, I, in my case, my names Alex, thats the American version, in the Arabic version its Ali, and
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weve had very beautiful, wonderful people, relatives to me named Ali in the old country. DO Were you named after anyone in particular? AM Alis a religious name and I guess thats where it came from. In the translated into the American version of Alex. DO I see. What was your fathers name? AM Husseine. Hassan. However you want to whatever the pronunciation differed in America how they call it in Arabic versus the United States, but basically Husseine. And the American version is Sam. DO I see. What do you know about your fathers childhood in Lebanon? AM He was very smart, I know that for a fact. And he was very athletic and he was fast. And that came down to - his athletic ability came down to his children. But in his case, what I found out as I grew up that he really was very, very smart with a limited education, and he didnt have the opportunity that we had to take advantage of his ability to do things in life. At the time, you know, he was married, coming into a new country and then he went into the automotive industry. Thats what brought a lot of the Arab Americans, Ford was hiring a lot, Chrysler, GM, there was a big boom in Michigan, and they were all coming over for employment and for a better life. DO Is that why he came? AM Yes. DO For a better life. AM For a better life. DO What kind of education did he have? Can you describe it? Did he finish school? AM No, he didnt finish school. I , I in the American version it would be elementary school, but I have to admit, he made very good decisions, he was very smart without the education, without the books, common sense, street sense, even making decisions in life that shocked me that he had the knowledge and expertise to make those types of decisions. DO Can you give an example of a decision that he made that shocked you because it was so sound? AM Well, I I remember when I was in college, and there was a problem in social studies and psychology and math, and I was shocked, I addressed the question, and out of the blue he came up with the answer, which shocked me that he had that knowledge. DO What kind of work did he do? AM Automotive primarily. He worked on the assembly line, I dont know, 30-40 years. Yeah. DO Yeah. Did he have any hobbies? AM Uh, basically, just taking care of his family was his hobby, was his life, as was my mother. But he had his friends, I guess the one hobby he had was they had coffee houses at the time where they would, he would sit with all his friends that came over from the old country and reminisce and drink coffee and sociably played cards. Which was relaxing for him. DO Um hum. What was your mothers name?

AM Fatima. DO And her name before she was married? AM Fatima Hammound. DO Hammound. And what do you know about your mothers childhood? AM Uh my mother is a very unique, wonderful, fantastic person. Regarding her childhood, she was brought up in Lebanon, had a very close-knit, wonderful family, her education was limited, but she was one of the hardest working ladies Ive ever met in any association, even though she was my mother and my life, she raised seven kids and worked two jobs, and just was a fantastic caring mother. DO Can you tell me what place in Lebanon they came from? AM Tibnan. DO Can you spell the name? AM - I believe it might be, T -I-B-A-N, Tibnan, nan. DO OK. Can you tell me about your mothers parents and siblings? What kind of relationship she had with them? AM- Uh, very close. Most of them came over to the United States and she had some of her sisters here that came over DO Already, before she came? AM No, after. DO Or was she first? AM The reason why my mother was working so hard is she was saving money to bring them over to the United States. They didnt have the funds to make the move, and she would you know you know work hard as .. in hotels cleaning rooms, washing dishes, house, house I mean hotel cleaning, because she had the responsibility of caring for the kids, but any free time she had, 10:00 minutes she would work to make extra money and give it to her relatives, immediate family members to come over. So she worked you know for a couple years, had enough money, gave it to one of the sisters, they came over and she brought about 9 people over making minimum wage. DO Remarkable. And those were all immediate family members of hers that she brought over? AM Yes. DO Wow. My next question is, did she have any hobbies, but it sounds like she had very little time for hobbies. AM No, she passed away when she was 33. DO Im very sorry. AM She had leukemia, and it devastated our family, it devastated me to this day, but she was the

backbone, the inspiration for our family as an Arab American person, she brought the ethics and family and hard work mentality and gave us that. Thats the one thing I know she gave me, to do things I did in life. She taught me will power, she taught me to have confidence, with confidence there was preparation, regarding guidance I basically did that on my own because of the work ethic she specifically gave me. That she gave me the mentality that I could do anything I wanted in life if I believed in myself. And she passed away when I was in college. I know my brother drove over to the campus, brought me over, and I saw her pass away. And it was one of the most tragic, unbelievable things, but she to her last breath instilled for me to take care of my family, which I do, and to achieve, and that shed be watching over me. DO Its a wonderful gift. Can you tell me how your parents met one another? AM Um, they grew up in a small village, and back then its like relatives say they introduce each other, in those days it was basically arranged marriages, and it was you know one family introducing to the other family. As simple as that. DO Interesting. AM They didnt have the long romances like they have today. DO Do you know how long they knew one another before they were married? AM Basically they knew each other all their lives. DO - I see. AM - They were close, when I say close, in a village, you know each other and as they got older, they were introduced, but could not date. DO I see. What do you know about their early relationship, if anything? AM My Dad is a romantic individual, and I guess he swept my mother off her feet and thats basically the truth. You know, hes a good talker. DO - Ah. So, they first came to the United States together, in the 1950s or thereabouts. AM- Right. DO Correct. And where did they first settle when they first came here? AM Basically we grew up in south Dearborn. In different locations in south Dearborn. DO - Can you tell me why they came to south Dearborn? AM That was the hub, I believe in the United States, for everybody that was coming from the Middle East, basically Lebanon, was coming to specifically south Dearborn not east Dearborn or west Dearborn. And they all congregated in that area, it became an Arab American community. My childhood in that atmosphere was unbelievable. And Ive been all over the country many times over because of my past history and Ive never seen a community as close-knit and as safe as that. And we were not into - today kids are into drugs, we were into athletics, education, and I know that I grew up next to a park where they had summer, winter sports, ice arenas, basketball courts, football field, baseball field, they had summer recreation, and I was there from 9 in the morning till 9 at night when my mom called me to come home. And thats where all the kids played. But in regards to the community, the Arab American community, all the families were close-knit, everybody watched over everybody, kept our doors open, if I was at somebody elses house or other kids came to my house, our parents always fed whoever was there, you know, in that aspect, everybody took care of everybodys kids, like they were their own.

DO Um did your family stay in one place or did they move around? AM Ah, as the family got bigger, obviously we needed a bigger space. Eventually they bought a home on Canterbury, and thats basically where we grew up. DO Ok. And how old were you when the family moved to Canterbury? AM Uh, very, very young. DO And why did they move to Canterbury Street? AM My parents had an opportunity, they saved some money, got a good deal on a home, a two-family home with a huge back yard, and the setting was right across the street from a park, it was a very nice brick home where they raised the entire family. DO Do you remember the address of that home? AM 1917 Canterbury. DO And you mentioned it was a two-family, did they rent out the other side? AM Yeah, they rented out the upper flat. DO I see. AM So it was an income for them also. DO - Excellent. What languages do you speak? AM I used to speak very, very, very good Lebanese. I still speak it, but not as fluent as I did when I was young. The reason why, as I grew up, the community was that of Arab American, and you would communicate that, and speak that language. As I grew up, going away to college and then living in New York, living in California, living in you know Florida, people didnt speak Arabic. So it would go away. But what I found out is when I came back home and I talked to all my relatives, it would easily come back, like riding a bike. DO Um hum. When you were growing up, did you speak Arabic in the home? AM Yeah, yes. Not as . when we were growing up, we did speak Arabic in the home, but as we got older, we started integrating more and more English because thats what we were educated on in American schools. DO I see. Are there any expressions or stories where a certain language is always used in your home? Do you still use Arabic in your home? AM Yeah, yes. I have two wonderful children, and I - you know our culture is very beautiful and I want them to be part of it. So I instill in my kids a lot of the religious more so aspects, as well as some language, and they learn certain words, sentences, not paragraphs, but they know how to prayer, pray in Arabic and as you know, me and my kids we pray together and they can say it in Arabic. DO So where were you born? AM I was born in Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan. DO And when was that?

AM January first, 1954. DO And where did you grow up? 20:00 minutes AM South Dearborn. DO Where have you lived in your lifetime? AM Um when I graduated from high school, I was on an athletic scholarship to Central Michigan University, so it was in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. And when I transferred because of athletics from Central Michigan I went to Marquette, Michigan, which is in the Upper Peninsula, and graduated from Northern Michigan University. When I left Northern Michigan University I signed a national football league contract with the Green Bay Packers, so I lived in Wisconsin. When I left there, I came back to Detroit, and worked for a Hall of Fame linebacker, his name was Mike Lucci, played many years for the Detroit Lions, my defensive back coach was Dick Lebow, who is a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame player. Anyways, they made the connection, he introduced me to Mike Lucci, at the time he was running Vic Tannys, its a health club chain that was later called Ballys. And I started from the ground floor in helping Tennis of America, Vic Tannys, and then I progressed, I was doing extremely well in the business world, got promoted, promoted, promoted, promoted, eventually they gave me a territory as a vice president, executive vice president in New Jersey, I lived in New Jersey, spent a lot of time in New Jersey, Manhattan, they were called Jack Lalanes. And then I did some work in Florida, Ft. Myers, then from there moved into a suburb, same industry, a suburb Danville which is a suburb of San Francisco, and spent you know 5 years, something like that, 5 years in San Francisco. And from that point, the there was transitions going on in the company, I came back to Detroit for another opportunity, and resided there every since. DO What was your relationship with your parents like? AM All I can say is wonderful. I was given good values, I was taught great values, and good work, fantastic work ethics, fantastic values. Never got in trouble, was a straight A student, and I concentrated, . actually I didnt like sports in the beginning DO - Really? AM And it just grew on me, and I got better and better and better, as I got older. And but I was grounded, thats the best way I can put it. I was taught to be humble, that if I had things not to show it off to other people, that everybody was equal to me. To treat people the way you wanted to be treated. And I was given, given a lot of love through my mother and father, through my brothers and my sisters, and thats what I give my kids. The most important thing what I learned in life is, no matter how much money you make and the cosmetics are nothing, that your family is everything and thats what you can take to the grave, is your family. DO Were you disciplined as a child? AM Yes. I was never disciplined in a violent manner, I was of course yelled at, in . todays mentality is time-outs, you know, reward system. The way I got punished is I had to stay home which was unbearable when everybody was outside and I had to stay home, and look through the glass window. Cause they knew that was what got to me. DO What are your earliest memories of your childhood? AM My earliest memories of my childhood, was just that of love. My mother showed a tremendous amount of love and being taken care of. I remember my brothers always would gang up on me, my sisters were every loving, and took care of me. But it was all good.

DO Describe your siblings and your relationship with them. How many siblings? AM I have three brothers and three sisters. And DO So, seven children all together? AM - Seven children. My mom passed away at a young age at 33. My Dad remarried 20 years later and had two girls. Her names called Zainab and shes from the old country, very wonderful lady. And so it was actually nine total. And my relationship with my brothers and sisters are fantastic. We always had and have a very close relationship, a very loving relationship. As we get older, you know, now we have our kids, and were very active together as a family. DO Do the siblings live all together close to the Dearborn area? AM Yeah, basically, we all live in Dearborn, and I have one sister that lives in Chesterfield. DO What religion were you and how involved were you and your family with your faith? AM Um, that is of Islam and in my heart I have a very close relationship with God, and so does my family. I try to practice the preachings as best I can. I wish I was more knowledgeable, but I educate my kids through the teachings of Islam, and basically its being a good human being. And we thank God for what we have every night as a family and we pray to Allah together and you know were a very close-knit family. DO Were you involved in religious instruction as a child? AM Yeah, in my early days I was in School of Islam, and where they taught you how to read, how to write, and how to pray. And that was for a couple years, and I got really educated in Islam but as I got older my time was being occupied by the American schools and I couldnt do both. DO How old were you when you attended the School of Islam? AM Uh, six, seven, something like that. DO And were those lessons conducted in Arabic? AM Uh, both, American and Arabic. DO Can you describe any traditions that your family had? AM Had or have? DO Had or have? AM Um, traditions DO Family traditions AM Were a very close-knit family, I mean we celebrate the Eid and the Islam holidays 30:00 minutes and on that aspect, so I would assume thats a tradition in itself, but we educate ourselves and we know the culture of Arab Americans, of the Middle Eastern nature, and we try to bring that in our house on a daily basis, you know not just holidays. So I would guess that what our traditions are is being good as an Arab American.

DO Describe your familys economic condition when you were growing up. AM My father was a hard worker in the automotive industry and he took care of our family, we were never hungry, we were clothed properly. My mother also worked and raised the kids, I can recall her taking care of the it was amazing that she would work, you know, actually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, nonstop. So there my parents took care of us, really took care of us, made sure that we were clothed properly, we had good hygiene, we were taken care of medically, that we were fed and clothed properly, that we went to school, and so economically they took care of us and we never had to worry about that aspect. DO What kinds of recreational activities did you participate in as a child? AM Just about everything. I grew up in an athletic mindset. So recreational activities, one thing I do have to say is that the City of Dearborn had fantastic athletic opportunities for us. In the early days I played a lot of hockey, there was an ice arena right across the street from me. In the summer, it was a baseball diamond, so I played hockey, I played football, I played soccer, I played baseball, basketball, the main sports I concentrated on because I was getting better and better and better at was football and basketball. And we had a basketball court right across the street, football right across the street, it was all available and the youth from the entire Arab community, thats where everybody went. That was the hangout. And it was a healthy environment where drugs were never permitted, alcohol, - it was a very clean, and I can honestly say it was kinda rough, you now, rough and tough . DO Tell me what you mean by rough? AM Well, in athletics you kinda have a mindset to be tough and if you werent tough, you were always put in the backburner. So you learned that aspect, it wasnt in a mean environment, but if you wanted to play, you had to be an achiever. And its what inspired a lot of people to get better at. I know that, that in my case, I always wanted to play with the older kids and I was a younger kid. So I would on my own, practice sports to be able to get on that level which helped me later on in life. DO Describe your social life as a child in terms of your friends and activities. AM I had, I had a group of guys that were the best in the world. We did everything together and we were close-knit and had each others back whenever we went anywhere. And were all Arab Americans that took care of each other. None of these guys were bad people, theyre all good people with all good intentions, and we stuck together as friends, and not as a gang. Completely different. Just, just a healthy environment. We all spoke Arabic, you know, and DO Did you speak Arabic to one another within the circle? AM Yeah, we did. Yeah. And we also spoke American, but we also spoke Arabic. When we were the funny part about it is when we were around American people, we would speak Arabic, and they would say, what are you guys saying? DO And what did you want to be when you grew up, when you were a kid? AM Uh, when I was a kid, a doctor. DO Really? AM Yeah. DO Why did you have that ambition, do you know? AM Uh, I wanted to help people, I wanted to help sick people.

DO Tell me about your schooling, what schools did you go to? AM I attended Salina Junior High, that was kindergarten through ninth grade back then. DO Ah, ok. AM And great school, great programs, great teachers. From there I moved on to Fordson High School. th th th There were 10 , 11 and 12 . DO What did you like most about school? AM Uh, in the beginning I didnt like school. It grew on me. DO Really, why? AM Uh well I shouldnt say I didnt like school, I was like, just- Im gonna rephrase that. I learned to love school, but in the beginning, it just was new to me, was just I guess school grows on you. DO So what did you like most about it when you decided you liked it? AM What did I like most about it? DO Yeah. AM I was getting smarter, I was getting educated, I was learning a lot, I knew that if I ever wanted to get ahead in life I have to have my education, and thats when it hit me I was always a good student, I was a straight A student, and I always studied, I always did my homework, but I guess it wasnt exciting for me, you know, maybe I should go back to that. It wasnt exciting for me. But at an early age I learned that I had to get involved in school if I ever wanted to do anything in life. DO How old were you when you had that realization? AM Fourth grade. And I think when I made that statement that, you know school had to grow on me, I was used to always being at home, I guess maybe every person had to go through this, youre at home, youre at a young age, and all of a sudden youre put in this when I went to Salina, I went from a few people into hundreds, and it was like shocking to me, all these people in this big you know, now to me its a little school, but back then it was like unbelievably huge. And thats when I said it had to grow on you. And as you get older it grows on you, and then you start making friends, and it got to be more enjoyable. DO Who were your role models? Did you have any role models? AM Uh, yeah, my mom. My mom has always been my role model, in every aspect of life. DO What were the most valuable and useful morals that your parents taught you as a child, which most affected you? What values did your parents emphasize the most? Youve talked a little bit about values, Im asking you to describe AM To stand up for yourself, and to believe in yourself, there was a few times 40:00 minutes that I came back home crying, one was athletics and I you know had the mentality that I cannot do it, Im not good enough. And I remember my mother eyeballed me and convinced me and gave me the courage to prepare myself to be good. It was the aspect of preparation and mindset. Heres an uneducated

individual, educating me as Ph.D.s, and she always gave me the verbage of guidance, and with guidance there was preparation, and confidence. And if I believed in myself, and I prepared myself, that I can achieve anything. Thats what I carried forever and ever and ever to this day, and I instill that in my kids to this day. DO Are there any sayings that your parents always said to you? AM Uh (laughs) Theres a lot, I DO Can you mention a couple? AM Regarding discipline or DO Anything at all that comes to mind. AM Not, you know, not, just, Id rather not say. No I, just nothing really stands out. Just normal conversations. DO OK, ok. So you are second generation Arab American. AM - Right. DO Has your family experienced generation gap issues we call them, between yourself and your parents about American life? What do you think is the biggest difference between you, your generation and your parents generation with regard to life in America? AM Its completely changed. When I grew up, our generation, it was safe, it was clean, it was healthy. Todays generation, this is my opinion, todays generation of Arab Americans that the Arab American individual, men and women, has a, I dont know, a very arrogant attitude. Which is wrong. DO Can you explain what you mean? AM Just the best word I can say is arrogant. They really dont know what life is all about. The mentality is that, and this is just not everybody, but the - this is not just me saying this this is the opinions of a lot of people my age, you know, that there is a transition of wholesome, clean, hardworking mentality to the dollar is everything, and theres no respect to the elders, theres no respect to the rule of law. And theres a lot of Arab Americans that have a very good mentality, no doubt about it, but I see that trend, and you can see it, not only in Arab Americans, you can see it everywhere with every race. You know, you look at the crime rate, how high it is, you could say economics but thats really not the case, I dont know if its TV where you see all, all you see is violence, so maybe its a lot of our generations fault that people are looking at violence as good, versus when we grew up, violence was bad. Theres more and more gangs, we never had gangs when I grew up. I just feel that in my opinion, theres been regarding Arab Americans its regressed versus progressed. Its like at a standstill or going down regarding the culture. Islam is a very beautiful religion, the Arab Americans in general is very beautiful. Theyre taking that beauty and tarnishing it by certain behaviors. And a lot of them learn after the damage is done of the beauty of Islam or Arab American mentality. So we really need to get back to basics whats good in life and whats bad in life. DO When you were growing up, did you experience any generation gap between yourself and your parents for example, regarding life in America? AM When I was growing up, we feared, no I shouldnt say feared, we had such a high respect for parents and people that were older than us, we would stop and when they talked we listened, there was a tremendous respect for parents in general. We really, really just - whatever they said, went, period. No backtalk, no nothing. You dont have that these days.

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DO Right. So were there any differences between the way that you were raised here in America and the way that your parents were raised back in Lebanon? Or was it more similar? AM Basically, they brought what they learned in the old country into, into their community. What has happened is that deteriorated as kids got more Americanized. Im not saying American, in any way ethics or upbringing is bad, but some of the bad things that were out there, that became more to the new generation. DO I see. Have there ever been any instances where you felt discriminated against? AM Um, yeah, the last what year did 9/11 happen? DO 2001. AM 2001. Even myself, from that point on, I think that the Arab Americans regressed 50 years, maybe longer. Prior to 9/11, the perception of Arab Americans in the United States was that of was fantastic. They were on the upscale regarding being elected officials, all over the United States, in prominent positions, respected. After 9/11, that perception went down to nothing, that Arab Americans were looked down on. And I see it with my kids, I seen it with me, and I see it everywhere. DO Do you feel different from your peers because of your Arab American ancestry and upbringing? Do you feel different from other people who are associates of yours? AM - I, regarding me as an individual, no, because Im very confident with in myself. But I see other Arab Americans that back down, even though theyre highly qualified. Maybe feel embarrassed, maybe feel shameful, even though they had nothing to do with it. And theres that there is that prejudice of, an American population to the Arab Americans today. Its a known fact. DO Can you describe how that prejudice has affected you in your own life, if it has? AM Yeah, I can give examples of my employment. 50:00 minutes I deal with multibillion dollar companies, multi millions. I deal with presidents, CEOs that you know make decisions on unbelievable amounts of money, and um they would take into consideration that I was Arab American on making a decision, thinking that just, just the aspect of being an Arab American that you had something to do with hurting America. Theres this perception about Arabs in America today, that want to hurt the country. And if you dont see it, youre blind. Its getting better and better and better and better nowadays, but still you have the Iraqi war, you have the Afghanistan war, you have the trouble in the Middle East with Israel, you have what country borders Israel the DO Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza AM Where was Arafat at? DO Oh, Arafat Palestine. AM Yeah. So they have all this trouble, troubled spots, and it directly or indirectly is affecting America with stability, you know, worldwide. So that in itself cre tarnishes the image of Arab Americans. DO Would you say that you are attached to your Arab American ancestry? Your heritage? AM Um, I wouldnt say attached. I love my culture, I love my race, I love the way I was brought up, I love Islam. Its a beautiful, beautiful race, its a beautiful, beautiful religion. Its just that its been twisted by, by, by certain fanatics that destroy the image of Islam and the people.

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DO How has life in Dearborn fostered your relationship with your Arab American heritage? AM Ah, when I grew up, its different when I grew up the way it is today. Point blank, and everybody agrees with me. When I grew up, it just was just clean and wonderful and good morals, good values, people took care of everybody, and today its just a new generation has a different mentality. A worse mentality. Not everybody, but you know you feel that. But regarding fostering the way I have been, it was great. It was healthy, it was clean, it was good. We had good people in prominent leadership roles as Arab Americans, throughout Dearborn, and they projected good things to my generation, and versus todays generation. I think its deteriorated and took a step down. It needs to reverse that. DO How would you describe the Arab American community in Wayne County and Dearborn, by which I mean, how have Arab Americans affected life in general in Wayne County and in Michigan? AM How they affected life DO What contributions have they made? AM Um regarding contributions, again I would go to the older generation. I think theyre the biggest contributors to a good Arab American image. They do theyre involved in the community, theyre involved in leadership roles, and somewhere along the line the younger generation has gotten sidetracked into the into the good of the morals and values of Arab mentalities. DO Do you think that more should be done for new immigrants to the United States, to be part of the community? AM Uh - whats happening is that the people that are coming to this country from the Middle East, a lot of the people do not speak American or they dont have the - theyre not educated. Im not saying everybody, a lot of them are not educated, they dont speak American, so whether you say, should more be done, I mean there should be more done for everybody, but you cant. I dont have a good answer for that. I dont know if more should be done, what about the people already here contributing to the wellbeing of the country, through taxations. Theres a lot of people that are in need at this point, Arab Americans, and a lot of service that could be helpful to Arab Americans. So I dont know if its more control over immigration, but in general of course you want to help everybody, but regarding economics, is that feasible. I dont have a good answer for that. DO OK. Youve alluded to your career earlier, but Im gonna ask you to describe your career as far as what jobs youve had in your career and what progression it took, for the record. AM - Its my turn? DO Your turn. AM - OK. Um Regarding jobs I know when I entered college I alluded to becoming a doctor. What happened was, in college, my I had a senior class when I was a sophomore, freshman, that were great athletes, that a lot of the pro scouts were coming in from the National Football League looking at these athletes. And they would look at films, and when they watched the other people, and me as a young person, they would you know see me involved in games, and said this guys got potential, this guy you know has a shot. So, I had coaches that approached me and says, you know, theres possibilities that you know, you could have a life in this field, and you need to concentrate more, put more effort DO And how old were you when this was first said to you? AM 18, 19, in that area. 20, something like that. Um, and so it kinda deterred me from the studies in the developing my body into basically a machine. And I mean, what was said to me wasnt really to hurt me, was to say look, you have some ability and some great things can happen, but youre gonna have to

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pay the price. And you know, maybe if you concentrate on building up your body, athletically, and doing whats necessary to get to that level, versus being in the books, cause its very hard to do both. And I kinda got sidetracked and went away from the medical field. I got more involved into the teaching field. And it did pay off, there was no question about it, but I went from my freshman and sophomore year as a defensive back, going from benching 150 pounds 60 minutes to benching 440. You know, running faster than ever, you know, I just turned around, it took a year or two, but the price that you pay is unbelievable, the work. I would get up you know, six in the morning, do some studying, have breakfast, go to my classes, go to practice, and then I would train after that for a couple hours, eat, do my studies, and pass out in the bed from exhaustion, and that was redundant every day. You paid a price. You had to have a strong mind to be able to do that on a regular basis. You know, you had to learn how to eat right, you had to learn how to train right, time management cause your time was really scaled down. You had to do this and this and this, so you really couldnt have a social life. It was all work, no play. You have to dedicate yourself, you know, to be a high achiever. Maybe Im rambling on, but I dont know if I DO No, please go on. AM Anyways, I athletically, are we going athletics, is that what were referring to? DO Were describing your career in detail. AM OK. I, in junior high, it started off in athletics, where we won a city championship in football that I was very well involved with, and in high school you know a state championship that I was very involved in, in college I think Im the only athlete in America that played on two consecutive national championship teams in football back to back. I dont think theres another athlete in America that has done that. So I went to - from high school in Fordson to a state champion, received an athletic scholarship. I got numerous athletic scholarships, I kinda wanted to get away, but not too far away. Central was ideal. The person that recruited me was Herb Dramady and he met my mother. He is by far a great human being, a great man, he was I believe the winningest coach in the Mid American conference in football. But he recruited me, I believed in him, to this day I believe in him. I think this man is just unbelievable. Because not only was he concerned about your athletic career, he was concerned that you had a life after, and made sure of that. Um, making a long story short, I was recruited as a defensive back, won a national championship and then they wanted to move me to linebacker. And I said to my coach, I said, I said, you know, I might have a shot at professional football as a defensive back. I feel that if I was gonna become a linebacker I might have, maybe they were right, I dont know. But that was at the time, I was young, and trying to make the right decisions. So I remember flying back, cause they were telling me this on a plane. Flying back from a national championship. And I approached my coach and I he was like a second father. I mean this guy was just unbelievable to me. And I asked him, I says, Im asking for your help, you know, can you guide me, can you tell me what to do? He believed in me so much, he said if thats what you believe, go ahead and do it. And I was referring to transferring to another school. Now here you are, won a national championship, coming back, and discussing your future, you know. So, I made the transition, I had to go to an independent school so Ill be eligible to play, and that was at Northern Michigan University. I called up the coach, actually we played against him, and I had an unbelievable game, and as soon as I got on the phone he said absolutely, you have an athletic scholarship, you can come, and so I went in there, and Northern Michigan University, I think they won, one or two games the year prior that I went there. And it didnt affect me, because I knew I was a winner, I knew I would achieve. Now can you imagine a school winning I think it was one game or two games, a football team, and then I went there and we won a national championship. Can you image the transition? But I did tell the coach, I says listen, theres a couple people I know that can play football, this is unheard of too and I say, and I said, if I get them to come to this college, would you give them athletic scholarships? He goes to me, well do you think they can play? I says yes. Will you give me the leverage to say that they can have athletic scholarships? He said yes. So I go back, this is all a true story, they were both they both quit college, they were on the avenue, at a pool hall. And I says, what are you

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guys doing? What are you guys doing? I didnt even know they quit. They quit college and not doing anything. And I says, you guys wanna play football, you wanna go back to college? And they thought I was joking you know. And I says tell me, do you guys wanna go? Long story short, they said yes, I called the coach, they got athletic scholarships, and we went back to Northern Michigan University. Now, we had a winter program, and all these people knew I won a national championship. They had no idea why Im there you know, what is this guy doing? So I brought my work ethics Im not gloating, Im just telling what I did, I brought my work ethics to that University. And I trained and trained and trained and trained and studied films, studied films, studied films like you wouldnt believe to educate my mind on the future schedule. And eventually it was a couple athletes started doing what I did. And more and more and more and more they started taking my work ethics. So we decided - I decided to stay on campus to train in preparation of the new season, and then all these people did the same thing. These coaches are going, I cant believe what these people are doing. You know, and we weight trained unbelievable, everybody transferred their bodies into Hercules through extensive training. Training the right way for your position. Theres a certain way you have to train for defensive back versus a lineman. But we all educated ourselves on what needed to be done. So here you got one of the worst losing schedules in college football nationally, and then you got athletes that transformed their mentality, their mind to become a winner. But you have to pay the price to become a winner, and you have to have preparation to become a winner and you have to start believing in yourself. They didnt believe into themselves until the season started and we won the first game. But here you got all these guys that transformed their bodies into great athletes through preparation. We all gave each other the guidance and the confidence started developing. You get a loser into a national champion is unheard of. So we start winning, winning, winning, winning, it was unbelievable, and here you got a bunch of guys that developed the confidence and won a national championship. I think that personally, for me to see that was unbelievable, to see the transformation of a certain group of guys to do what they did which is unheard of in collegiate football. And you know, from that point, we won a national championship and thats where the two national championships come in Division Two, which is you know unbelievable in itself. My senior year making a long story short, the Green Bay Packers signed me to a two-year contract. Thats where I met Bart Starr. Bart Starr was the head coach. I believe that this guy was a great, great human being. 70 minutes He never did what you think he would do as a head coach, he didnt coach as long as you would think or have the winning record as you would think. But the man and thats one of the few publicly held national football teams in America, if not the only. But regarding him as a head coach, he was a great man. But even greater was our defensive back coach Dick Lebow, who played for the Detroit Lions for 14 seasons. Which is gonna go in the Hall of Fame. And to this day hes coaching, I think hes the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, to this day. Hes active, and hes gonna go in the Hall of Fame. And he was my defensive back coach, and I think this guy was just unbelievable. He is a great man. Point blank. Not only is he a great coach, hes a great human being, a great man, in every aspect. So thats a few individuals that are great people, are just - if you talk to them, you get chills on what they say. They can inspire individuals like that. And once I left Green Bay I went into the work field and I think I described that earlier. Where I was introduced to Mike Lucci, who was heading up Vic Tannys at the time, and to be redundant I started off at the ground floor with Vic Tannys. It was a similar field, you know, physical fitness DO Do you remember what year that would be that you started with Vic Tanny? AM 7 80, 81, in that ball park. 82. DO OK. AM And developed a future into that field and went into different areas. And got promoted, did very well in that business. DO And what do you do for a living now? Are you still involved in that business?

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AM I have a leave of absence from my work. This is another side of my life. This is the sad part. I was diagnosed, what a year ago, with cancer. And lymphoma, stage four. And I asked the doctor, I says, am I gonna live, am I gonna die? They kinda give me the hint that I was gonna die in 3-4 months. This is what a year ago I was diagnosed? And, and I have two kids. A boy and a girl. So, I - my family is shocked, Im shocked, my familys going crazy in tears, this and that. Im numb. In addition, I dont know whether I should say this on tape, in addition, I find out my wifes having an affair, a mistress, having an affair with another guy, for two or three years. I find this out when Im sick. I have two kids. And so anyways, for the past year Im going back to my work, Im on a leave of absence. I have a fantastic boss, his names Perry Johnson. Hes the owner and founder of his company, and I did extremely well with him. DO And what type of business AM - Its an international consulting firm, but he does a lot of things, you know medical fields, and et cetera. So Im on leave of absence from that aspect of it all. So should I finish the story of my cancer? DO Please, please. AM OK. DO If you like. AM So Im thinking Im gonna die, two, three months down the road. This is where it gets sad. My kids are being told by their ex my ex-wife - that theyre gonna get a new daddy and so dont worry. And I have the kids, you know right now, its not even done, were still going to trial and fighting for sole physical and sole legal custody. Should I be going over this? Um me and my kids are close, were tight. No one could separate us, were unbelievable. So one night, this is true, one night, 3:00 in the morning, something like that, Im in tears, and Im not crying where my kids can theyre sleeping. Im in tears, I dont want to leave my kids, you know so out of the blue, my son [Jacob Alex Moslimani] and daughter [Janel Alex Moslimani] come and grab me. This is a true story. And theyre in tears, theyre screaming, in tears, they said, they said, whats wrong, whats wrong? And I say nothing, nothing. And my daughter [Janel] grabbed my face, I remember this, Ill never forget this. Its 3:00 in the morning. And she goes, dont ever leave us, promise me, promise me, shes screaming, and my son [Jacob]. We dont want a new daddy. If you go to Allah, were going with you. This is my kids, a seven year old and a six year old, at the time theyre six and five. If you go to Allah, we dont want to stay here, were going with you. And she says, promise me, my son [Jacob] and daughter [Janel], promise me that youre not gonna leave us. So, I promised them. Now at the time Im regressing, Im thinking Im done. My mentality, my confidence, Im really, really sick, Im taking chemo, my hairs falling out. So at that point was my turning point in my life. I said, Im not gonna die. Im gonna do everything I can to survive. I would take chemo when I didnt have the kids and come home. The doctor said that you have to circulate this chemo, it has to be circulated throughout your body. So a lot of the people that were doing this, if they walked ten yards they would pass out and so I had a treadmill at my house, and when I came home, it was an outpatient procedure from the chemo. I would go on the treadmill, this is true, I would go on the treadmill and the pain was so unbelievable but I did, I put my pictures of my kids on the treadmill to do what I had to do not to die. So I would walk, until I passed out, literally. And blood would be coming through my nose, and my ears. And I never told the doctors this. I would literally - I dont know why I did this, but they said circulate, you gotta circulate, its gotta go through, its gotta kill the disease. And I remember the pain was so unbelievable, Ill never forget it. Its like a thousand bullets, I dont know, I never felt a bullet, but it felt like and Im on the treadmill, trying to - walking for hours, I literally would drop. I wouldnt do this in front of my kids or when I didnt have my kids. I think this is my opinion that because I did what I did, that that that God, Allah, took me out of the grave and brought me back to life. I dont think you could tell I was ever sick. And I think that the blood that was coming out of my nose and my mouth and my ears was the disease. In my heart I cant prove that, Im afraid to ever tell any I dont know, I dont care now, but thats what I did, for six months. And I started to get strong, and I started to get healthy. And now the disease is totally out of my body and Im fully recovered from death.

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80 minutes DO Thats an amazing story. AM This is, this is all true. This is real. Real life. And I was approached on doing a movie on this. DO Yes. AM Thats what they brought. And they gave me the courage to survive something that I was assured that I would die with. Im telling you, if you saw me 9 10 months ago, youd say this guys dead. I was bald, I was 100 pounds less, I was a cancer patient, I was done. I dont know how this transformation happened, they did all the tests and they said - I have letters from the doctor, from the University of Michigan, that said, this is remarkable whats happened. We havent seen this. I have a letter from that was given to the judge that says this guy can take care of his kids, its unbelievable, they used the word remarkable recovery that is unheard of. DO You were recovered. AM Yeah. Cancer-free. DO Cancer-free. So, the next question is, what do you feel what was your greatest accomplishment? AM Thats it. DO Thats it. Yeah. If you could say anything to your elders, what would you want to say to them? AM Specifically, who you talking about, my elders? Mother, father? DO Lets say mother, father. AM I love them. DO Anything else? AM That says it all. DO That says it all. Wow. Were done. Thank you, Alex. For your candor, and for your time and for your remarkable, remarkable story. AM Its true. DO I believe you. AM Its a true story. Im still living it.

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