After the gruesome death of Abdirahman Abdi, our community could not stand idle. In August 2016, the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition was born. With the support of so many local and national organizations and grass roots love, our Coalition has been able to achieve so much. See our work here.

First, I need to tell you who I am.

I am a diaspora Somali Canadian based in Toronto, Ontario. I am an educator, researcher with a focus on diversity and inclusion, curriculum development, public engagement, immigration, and Criminal Justice System working with underserved and underemployed Black youth in Toronto. As a co-founder of the Canadian Association of Muslim Women in Law (CAMWL) I have organized public education forums and co-authored a paper exploring issues of Islamophobia and anti-Black racism and how they intersect in the lives of Black Muslim Canadians.

The Ontario Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities is recruiting for new members. The deadline to apply is January 19. You can learn more here.

Muslim Link interviewed Somali Canadian Khalid Egeh, a current member of the Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities, about his experience, and why more Muslim youth should get involved.

The Carleton University Somali Students Association (SSA) is organizing a Somali Night on Saturday, January 20th in Ottawa. Tickets are $25.

Muslim Link interviewed the organizers to explore how this is an ideal event to connect Somali students, young professionals, and non-Somalis who want to learn more about the Somali community.

Somali Canadian student Sahra Jama lives in Vancouver and is new to organizing demonstrations. But when she learned about the exploitation of African migrants in Libya she felt she had to act. With the support of Black Lives Matter Vancouver, she was able to mobilize around 100 supporters for a demonstration in solidarity with African migrants in Libya which took place on December 16th in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Muslim Link interviewed Sahra about her initiative, the African migrant crisis, and why she hopes more Muslim Canadians will speak out about what is happening to African migrants in Libya.

Somali Canadian Yasmine Mo is pursuing a Master’s in sociology at the Université de Montréal. Her thesis explores the social realities of Black Muslim women living in Montreal, the contributions of these women to Quebec society. The intersection of anti-Black racism, sexism and Islamophobia are at the centre of her studies.

Yasmine Mo spoke at a demonstration organized on November 18th by African Canadians in Montreal in the wake of recent reports that have hit mainstream media about the abuse, exploitaiton and in some cases enslavement experienced by African migrants in Libya, as situation that Amnesty International has described as "horrific".

Somali Canadian Rowda Mohamud won the inaugural Ross and Davis Mitchell Prize for Faith and Writing on October 31st, as part of the Faith in 150 initiative, for her collection of poetry reflecting on her experiences of faith in Islam, racism, Islamophobia, and identity as a Muslim woman in Canada. The prize is ten thousand dollars.

Gord Downie, the lead singer of the Canadian band The Tragically Hip, passed away on October 17, 2017 due to cancer. The Tragically Hip are one of the most beloved music groups in Canada's history. Gord Downie sang and wrote most of The Hip's songs. Through tears Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke about Gord Downie by stating: “Gord was my friend, but Gord was everyone’s friend. He knew, as great as [Canadians] were, we needed to be better than we are. Our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he had, and not just loved it in a nebulous ‘oh, I love Canada way,’ he loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life.”

Somali Canadian writer Rowda Mohamud shared the following reflection on the impact a lyric from The Tragically Hip's song Bobcaygeon, written by Gord Downie, had on her as a newcomer to Canada, after having arrived as a refugee with her family in the 1990s. The song is named after the town of Bobcaygeon, Ontario in the Kawartha Lakes region.

On October 19th, a vigil was organized by Somali community members in partnership with the office of the Minister for Citizenship, Immigration, and Refugees, Somali Canadian Ahmed Hussen, to mourn the victims of the recent terrorist attack in Mogadishu which has killed over 500 people, leaving hundreds more injured.

Somali Canadian students across Canada, in Ottawa, Hamilton, Scarborough, Toronto, and Calgary, have been coming together to mourn the victims of the Mogadishu terrorist attack and to raise funds to support those directly impacted, particularly through LaunchGood’s crowdfunding page to support Aamin Ambulance which is helping people on the ground.

As the Somali community holds fundraisers in cities like Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary this weekend to raise funds for the victims and their families, others are asking why their fellow Muslims and Canadians seem silent despite the magnitude of this terrorist attack.