Qataris aren't supposed to be broke, working at Tim Horton's just to keep a roof over their heads. We're supposed to be wealthy and powerful, that's my western friends say when I tell them that I was born and raised in the City of Al Ghanim in Qatar. I try not to roll my eyes as I remind them that not every person in the oil-rich regions of Saudi Arabia, Qat...
As I walk through the halls of the University of Ottawa in the Canadian Capital, I see a lot of Arab guys with White girls. I shake my head, and shudder. Why am I doing this? Am I some of racist? Am I intolerant? Far from it. In fact, I could tell you a thing or two about real intolerance. My name is Mona Bagis, and I'm a Turkish Christian woman who recently...
Thomas Pierre Calvary is the name that fate and family saw fit to give me, but T.P. is what my friends call me. I was born in the town of Boston, Massachusetts, to a Haitian father and Ethiopian-American mother. I know, it's not exactly a mix you hear about every day, that's for sure. My parents themselves, Jean-Pierre Calvary and Elisabeth Melkamu come from...
My name is Darshana Parvati Singh. I was born and raised in the City of Bhopal, Capital of the Indian Province of Madhya Pradesh. I've always been different from others ever since I could remember. As a young woman in the Republic of India, I've always had the feeling that my destiny lay elsewhere. My father Raju Singh always encouraged me to pursue my dream...
Man, every time I ran into her, the song "She's So High Above Me" starts in my head. I hope I'm not going crazy or anything. My name is Jalil Akbar. For most of my life, I've seen myself as the son of two worlds. My father Mohammed Abdul Akbar was born and raised in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And my mother Aisha Tabaan hails from the great nation of Somali...
I simply cannot resist "mature" Somali women I see walking around Vanier, Ontario, with their long skirts and hijabs. The name is Alexander "Ali" Montrose and I'm a young man with a steamy tale to share with you. I am twenty six years old, and sexual adventurism has always been the name of my game. I was born in the City of Toronto, Ontario, to a Jamaican fa...
"To be a Chechen Muslim woman is to fight when it feels like the entire world is against you," said Maaret Salamovich, and with that, the young woman walked out of the manager office with her head held high. No use crying over spilt milk, or so the western cliché went in such situations. As far as Maaret was concerned, Walter, the Tim Horton's manager could...
I love Friday nights, and not just because it's everyone's payday. Nope, for me and close to two billion Muslims worldwide, it's our holy day. Jummah Mubarak is what we say to each other. Tonight, when I went to my favorite Masjid, my boyfriend Adam Stephens asked me if he could come with me. As a Muslim woman, what do you think my answer was? A resounding y...
Loving him is ill-advised, she told herself for the thousandth time as she looked at the picture of herself standing next to the one she loved the most. They were too different, she reminded herself. Yet from the first time she laid eyes on him in that Sociology class in September 2011, she couldn't stop thinking about him. In the eyes of most people, she wa...
My name is Andrew Bagnon. I'm a big and tall young Black man of mixed Haitian and French Canadian descent living in the City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario. My father Guillaume Bagnon is white, originally from the town of Montreal, Province of Quebec. My mother Elisabeth Robert Bagnon is Black, originally from the region of Cap-Haitien in the Republic of Hai...