Jan
Rahma Mohamed on the Challenges Faced by Minorities at TEDxUAlberta 2019
Written by Muslim Canadian TED TalksIn 2019, Rahma Mohamed was a speaker at TEDxUAlberta in Edmonton, Alberta.
According to TEDxUAlberta, "Rahma Mohamed was born and raised in Hargeisa, Somalia. Shortly before the civil war broke out; at the age of eight, her family immigrated to Canada. They arrived in Quebec where she attended her first formal school in French. The first few years were very difficult being the only black Somali girl in her class. She endured years of bullying due to her inability to speak the language and just for being different. But in time she became fluent in both French and English and became the first to graduate from University in her family. After becoming a mother, she set out to self-publish children's books to encourage youth to be proud of their unquietness by celebrating diversity. Noticing a lack of diversity in the market for Muslim Children books and recollecting her own struggles of growing up as an immigrant, she became determined to offer books centered on characters that are Muslim and with African roots. She released her first picture book title: 'Muhiima’s Quest' in 2017 and her second book: 'Little Brother for Sale' was released summer 2018. Rahma believes that children need to be able to identify themselves in the book they read to enhance their self-confidence as well as bolster their sense of pride. She promotes her message by visiting schools in Edmonton and Internationally via Skype. She hosts workshops to encourage children to write and share their stories. She is currently working on publishing more books as well as translating her current works to have them available to more children around the world."
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