Pathbreakers of Arab America--Eleventh in Series: Farouk Shami
By: John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer
This is the eleventh in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, and politics, among other areas. Arab America highlights our eleventh pathbreaker, Farouk Shami, an Arab American, and proud son of Palestinian Muslim parents. A true entrepreneur, he has innovated highly popular hair and skin products that are marketed worldwide. He and his family have been ardent supporters of Palestinian human rights and Farouk is a generous supporter of people in the U.S. and around the world who are in need.
Farouk Shami, is an amazing entrepreneur in the hair and skin products arena and a proud Palestinian-American
Farouk Shami is a Palestinian-American who was born in Beit Ur al-Tahta, a village near Ramallah in the West Bank. His parents, Mohammed and Jamilah were well-known Palestinians, who traveled back and forth from America over the years to support the cause of the Palestinian people. The Shami family name has been connected to Bit Ur al-Tahta for hundreds of years. Farouk’s father, Mohammed immigrated to the U.S. in 1923, when he opened a restaurant business in Brooklyn.
Following in his father’s footsteps as an entrepreneur, Farouk started work in the field of hair-care product development and attended cosmetology school in Arkansas. He invented the first ammonia-free hair color after he developed an allergy to that chemical. Because of his allergy, doctors initially encouraged Farouk to leave his profession. Starting small, his company, the Houston-based Farouk Systems, currently employs over 1,000. It exports its line of hair and skin care products under the BioSilk, SunGlitz, and Cationic Hydration Interlink (CHI) brands to over 106 countries worldwide.
Shami is known for many innovative products in the hair care and styling arena, including 23 patents for award-winning tools. Many of these have revolutionized the beauty industry. Today, his company, Farouk Systems, Inc., is present in over 144 countries with over a billion dollars in sales. Some of Farouk’s firsts are an ammonia-free hair lightener and coloring system; the use of primary colors in a lightening system called SunGlitz; the acquisition of a patent for hair care; use of ceramic and revolutionized styling tools, including the ‘Ceramic Flat Iron;’ and employment of silk in hair care, resulting in the BioSilk Silk Therapy product.
Importantly, Farouk’s mother was his inspiration for his hair care interest. She used olive oil and herbs from the family homeland to create her own skin and hair care. Her knowledge of natural dyes used in basketmaking inspired Shami’s interest in hair coloring.
Shami announced on Nov 19, 2009, that he was running for governor of Texas as a Democrat. In response to questions about his religion, he stated that “he is not a member of any one specific organized religion but said that he has a deep sense of personal relationship with God and that he felt a ‘religious tug’ in deciding to run for the public office.” Having not gained much traction, Shami lost to former Mayor Bill White in the Democratic Primary by over a 60% margin.
Shami, a great philanthropist and supporter of Palestinian rights
Charity and caring for others have been an integral part of Farouk’s legacy; he has dedicated his life to giving back. Shami was honored on July 10th, 2023, as the Spirit of Life Honoree at the upcoming fundraising gala called the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life Celebration. The City of Hope is a National Cancer Institute-designated, comprehensive cancer center for diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases. It is the highest honor given by the charity.
On the Palestinian front, Farouk and his three brothers have worked not only to carry on their father’s lifelong efforts to make a difference in Palestine but also, according to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), “to share American ideals of freedom and democracy with their homeland.” Their father, Mohammed, in1935 returned to Palestine to fight for his homeland, specifically to contest the British and Jewish plans “to destroy the unity of Palestine, partition the Holy Land, and give Jews, who owned less than 7 percent of the land, more than half of Palestine.”
Mohammed Shami was commissioned to organize the Palestinian paramilitary under the name of the Palestinian Boy Scouts, which became one of the major forces, 25,000 youth strong, in the fight against the establishment of Israel in the land of Palestine. Again, according to WRMEA, “After Britain ended its mandate, Mohammed Shami commanded all the Arab troops west of Jerusalem, who desperately fought the … Jewish forces. For his resistance work between 1936-48, Mohammed was recognized in 1995 by the Palestinian Authority as Dean of Palestinian Veterans.”
Farouk, much later, bought a factory on the West Bank to hire local employees to produce his hair products. The Israelis determined that the factory was too close to the wall, so they refused to ship his goods from the port. Shami noted that even for him to return to the West Bank today requires two weeks to get a permit to travel. He claims, “This is discrimination. How can I run a business and move goods back and forth like this?”
Shami did, however, manage to build a secondary school for girls on the West Bank in their father’s memory in 1995. He wants to do more and sees education as the key to Palestinian development. He noted, “Palestinians need to see hope. If they have economic justice it will lead to peace. We can’t have an independent state without an independent economy. We have lost our land. The only hope for Palestine is industrialization. It’s time to invest in peace.”
Finally, Farouk avowed, “Each Palestinian [in the diaspora] has a duty to invest in the Holy Land. Palestinians don’t need donations; they need open markets for Palestinian goods. We have an educated labor force and quality materials. We could build an independent economy in our independent state. That would be good for Israel, too…I will do my part and I challenge anyone who loves peace to invest there… Now it’s time for diaspora Palestinians, and the nations in which they’ve lived, to help deliver—and invest in—a viable and free Palestinian state.”
Sources:
–“Farouk Shami,” Wikilist of Arab Americans, 2023
–“Farouk Shami,” Ideasmensch.com, 5/14/2019
–“Dr. Farouk Shami Celebrates Over 35 Years of Giving Back,” Cision PR, 7/6/2023
–“The Shami Family: Turning Troubles into Triumphs,” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 5-6/2008
John Mason, Ph.D., who focuses on Arab culture, society, and history, is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID and the World Bank in 65 countries.
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