Love Lived, Not Just Spoken

posted on: Feb 18, 2026

By: Adel B. Korkor / Arab America Contributing Writer

We are reminded that love is not merely a feeling, but something we live. It is expressed in our language, preserved in our memories, and protected through our traditions. When authentic, love moves beyond sentiment and becomes action.

For those of us carrying Arab heritage in our hearts, love of homeland is not confined by geography. It lives wherever our language is spoken, our stories are told to the next generation, and our music carries both longing and joy. Arabic is more than words; it is poetry, history, and identity. Through our greetings, proverbs, and prayers, our memory remains alive.

However, love of homeland is not nostalgia alone—it is a responsibility. It is the duty to preserve our culture with dignity, transmit our values with integrity, and represent our heritage with excellence. This love is alive today within our Arab American communities.

In the United States, we have built institutions, businesses, clinics, and foundations. We have raised families who navigate two worlds with grace, proving that identity is not divided by a hyphen, but enriched by it. Our love is expressed through service, generosity, and standing together with pride. To love our community means mentoring young leaders, supporting small businesses, and advocating for justice with clarity.

National Arab American Heritage Month is an affirmation that our contributions are woven into the fabric of this nation. Our scientists, physicians, artists, and public servants are shaping the future. We belong here as essential contributors. Democracy is healthiest when every community participates fully and confidently.

Our love must be expansive. It must extend to our families, our community, our homeland, and the country where we lead and serve. The Arab story is one of endurance and brilliance—a story of scholars, healers, and innovators that refuses to be reduced to stereotypes. We are writing its next chapter.

Let us write it with excellence, integrity, and compassion. Love, when lived fully, becomes a legacy. The legacy we build through service and unity serves as a living example of resilience and hope for the world.

With gratitude for our shared heritage and confidence in our shared future, we celebrate love in all its forms: for family, community, homeland, and humanity.

Adel B. Korkor, M.D., is a Syrian (Latakia)-born American physician, entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist. A U.S. citizen since 1983, he founded the Adel B. Korkor Foundation in 2017 to support individuals living with mental illness. Dr. Korkor is a former chairman of the board of the Arab America Foundation and remains actively engaged in the Arab American community.

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