About Us
The Chaldean Detroit Times is proud to announce the launching of its online home ChaldeanTimes.net. The story of the Chaldean Detroit Times is a rather interesting and inspiring one to tell. The Chaldean Detroit Times was founded by the current publisher, Amir Denha. His ambition to follow his lifelong dream is what has made The Chaldean Detroit Times the successful newspaper it is today. Here is his story, and the story of the Chaldean Detroit Times.
Amir Denha began using his artistic and writing talents at the age of 12, in the late 1950’s. He had a great deal of support from his parents, the late Michael Denha and Hassina Ayar, and one individual that was very important to Amir, his late grandfather Essou Ayar.
Amir’s talent of art and calligraphy helped him and his cousin, Richard Gergis published a bulletin at the high school they attended. Their bulletin became the most favorable to the board of education, out of the many other school bulletins and received a number awards for its success.
In the early 1960’s Amir and Richard founded the following magazines; Al Muntada, Sout Al EnSania, and Al Gerbal, which was published and read between their friends. A few years later, Amir and some friends volunteered for a public magazine known as, Al Condeel.
In his youth Amir wanted to go further with his talent and dreams. One of his dreams was to come to America. He accomplished his dream by arriving to America on January 1, 1967. His aunt, Naima Denha, who had lived in America since 1951, tried to convince Amir to go to school and pursue a career in journalism. So Amir began volunteering his time with two Chaldean newspapers Al-Alam Al Jadid published by Yousif Antone, and also helped the late, Hanna Yatooma, editor and publisher of Al-Mashriq. In 1968, Amir joined an Arabic bulletin for the students at Wayne State and later also helped with the magazine Al Talea.
In 1973, Mother of God Church moved from Detroit to Southfield and Amir was elected as a Parish Council member. As part of his duties serving the church, Amir was in charge of publishing a weekly bulletin with the leadership of the late, Bishop Garmo and Dr. Father Sarhad Jamou. In 1979, Amir began his own newspaper, Al Amba. This only lasted for one year. In the early 1980’s Amir helped publish the Southfield Manor publication for many years.
In 1982, His Excellency, Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim, was ordained Bishop, and decided to publish a newspaper for the Chaldean Diocese in America and Amir was among the team who helped.
In December 1989, Amir considered starting his own newspaper once more because he felt that the Chaldean community was in need of a newspaper like the Jewish and other communities. The first issue of the Chaldean Detroit Times (CDT) was published in March of 1990. Today, the CDT is the Chaldean and Arab American community’s leading publication in the Detroit Metropolitan area. The CDT is known to present news and information from around the Metropolitan Detroit area, the State of Michigan and community events which impacts the Chaldean and Arab businesses, such as the Chaldean Federation of America and the Arab American Chaldean Council.
The CDT was accepted by the news media, political figures and organizations. Amir Denha made a number of appearances in various media sources expressing his opinions on sensitive subjects and representing the CDT. His appearances were on local, national and international programs. For example, CNN, ABC, CBS and BBC News, and all local TV stations. Many times, Amir Denha appeared in the Detroit News, Free Press, Washington Post and New York Times. In addition, Amir participated in many interviews with Voice of America and other radio stations.
The continued success of Amir Denha and The Chaldean Detroit Times, in the past years is supported by his wife, Haifa Denha, and his children Dalia, Olivia, Vidal, and Ramy and his son-in-law Noor Atisha.