Muslim Link's Beyond Libya Series runs from December 2018 to February 2018. The series will explores the issues raised by the outrage against the abuse and exploitation faced by African migrants, including enslavement, in countries such as Libya and its impact on African Canadians, some of whom have family ties to those who are facing these abuses in North Africa and the Middle East.
Muslim Link is taking the opportunity the several demonstrations against this exploitation organized by Black communities across North America, including in cities across Canada, to open up discussion about the need for more active engagment between Black Muslim, non-Black Muslim, and non-Muslim Black Canadians to address anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, migrant & refugee rights, and imported trauma in our communities.
We are eager to year from individuals and groups in Canada who are actively engaged in trying to build bridges between Black, Black Muslim, and Muslim communties through addressing issues of anti-Black racism and Islamophobia head on.
Feel free to pitch your story to chelby@muslimlink.ca
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".
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