English at school, Somali at home, Arabic on weekends. This is how Sahra Ali came of age. A storyteller by nature and writer by trade, her recent piece about forging a Somali American identity in the Midwest truly spoke to us. She joins us on this episode of AMP to speak about words, 9/11, and her personal evolution.
Born in a tiny village in northeast Somalia devoid of electricity and brimming with war, Sahra’s family eventually followed her father to the U.S., where he’d moved eight years earlier. Introduced to the country by way of New York City, she walks us through the stark transition to her new life in Jersey City and its banding together of various Muslims. The moment she realized Americans couldn’t properly pronounce Sahra she became Sarah—a name and a persona she maintained until early adulthood, even amongst her family.
Despite witnessing the traumatic events and aftermath of September 11th, Sahra was young and from a culture focused on survival. So while her dad reacted by moving the family to Ohio, her natural, almost inherited psychological response was to disconnect entirely from the trauma. She shares her diplomatic and perhaps late-onset approach at self discovery, testing out freedoms while still under the confines of a traditional Somali upbringing. And how she had a cheerful but very different experience than the Americans, her “non-immigrant” siblings.
Finally we delve into words—beautiful, evocative, consequential words. As a young woman who won Quran recitation competitions, taught herself to read & write in Somali, and took her journal everywhere, the profession seems to have chosen her rather than the other way around. Now a writer, poet, and diversity & equity consultant, she makes a living documenting stories and facilitating racial literacy. She recites some of the joyful Quran as well as a Shakespearean sonnet, natch, and we muse about the day when an Arabic surah will be as ubiquitous in America as “Amazing Grace.”
This episode was recorded in March 2021. Check out the article that resonated so strongly with our host and so many other kinds of Muslims. And find out more about Sahra and her other work here.
American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.
Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble
Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt
Music by Simon Hutchinson
Hosted by Asad Butt
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