dawg

In this podcast, Sister Leda, a Muslim teacher at a school in America, discusses her experiences as a Muslim in the country. She talks about the negative stereotypes placed on Muslims and how they are changing. She also shares that she doesn't feel like an outsider and tries to create a positive narrative about Muslims by engaging with people and showing similarities. She mentions discrimination sometimes affects her actions and talks about protecting her children from bullying. Sister Leda also addresses the frustration she feels about the situation in Palestine and how she tries to make a difference. She acknowledges that younger Muslims are asserting themselves, especially on college campuses, and talks about the misinformation that exists about Islam. Overall, the podcast covers various topics related to Muslim experiences in America. Hello, welcome to my podcast, and thanks to everyone listening in. Today I'll be interviewing Sister Leda, a current teacher at Noble Leadership Academy who teaches math and science. I'd also like to mention that she is a Palestinian Muslim born and raised in America. The general topic of this podcast is Muslim experiences in America. Let's start off. Do you think that there is a negative stereotype placed on Muslims in current America? There was. There is. But with the current climate in the Middle East, I believe a lot of that is shifting right now. Okay. And do you feel like an outsider as a Muslim wearing hijab in America? No. Actually, I don't. I don't. I feel very, I feel like an American, and heck that when I was younger, people would start looking at me, and I didn't realize why they were looking at me, and then I have to remind myself it was because I was wearing hijab. So no. I've never really felt part of the country. I've never felt like an outsider, per se, unless actually somebody said anything. Alright. And again, how are you as a Muslim creating your own narrative in current America? Well, I mean, one of the biggest things is every time I go someplace, I make a point to speak to the people at the establishment, to let them know that I'm educated, to let them know that, you know, if they see me walking outside, morning walks and whatever the case is, that we're also athletic, and we're the same as everybody else. So that's one of the things, like, you know, we like to do exercise, we like to eat healthy, we have sibling rivalry, we talk to our siblings, we have, you know, a healthy relationship with our families, both men and women, so, you know, I make a point to say those things so that people know that we're very much similar. So you do believe that discrimination against Muslims in America stops you or slows you down from doing so, in some type of way? Sometimes. Sometimes, yes. I mean, when I know there is animosity in some place, I try to avoid it. What do you do to protect your children from bullying or oppression due to their religion? For them to be bullied, or? For them to be bullied, because of their background as a Muslim in America. So as young kids, my girls were in Islamic schools, so we really didn't have that. We were part of a Girl Scout troop, again, they didn't experience anything like that at all, even as hijabi young ladies. And we travel a lot, so, and this is in America, so we've never actually felt anything. However, in the workforce, things are a little different. Like now that my girls are older, they're in the workforce, they're seeing the other side of people, whereas before it was a little simpler, now they've got the different environments. And the only thing that I can do is give them the strength, and me and their dad give them, for example, ayahs in the Quran, what do we call it, hadiths, and things to follow that help strengthen their resolve when they're confronted, and by educating them to learn how to respond to people. Alright, thank you. Have you ever witnessed or been a victim of any of these interactions in public? So I don't remember, I'm sure there was one or two, but I really, I don't remember. I personally don't remember, because it wasn't that impactful where it scarred me or anything like that. How about like seeing the stuff online, how do you feel towards these oppressors? With regards to the current climate in Palestine. So initially I was, even now when I see certain footage, I'm really very frustrated and very enraged. And I have to keep reminding myself that Allah put me in America for whatever reason, even though I wish I could be there with them, but my job is here in America, so I do what I can. I'm talking to my politicians, I'm boycotting, I'm educating whenever I can and whenever I need to, and then it's just a lot of du'a and a lot of prayer. Alright, and what do you see now that shows younger Muslims finally asserting themselves? So say that again, what was the question again? What do you see in current America that show the younger generation of Muslims finally asserting themselves? So not so much just the Muslims as much as I'm seeing in college campuses, the fact that, even high schools, public schools where the students are collaborating and starting a walkout or whatever the case is, in opposition to what's happening overseas. So the fact that they are brave enough, that the youth are brave enough to come out and be speaking, we weren't. We were not. Do you also believe that there are a few, a handful of some young generation of Muslims that are being misguided probably because of the fact of the negative media coverage on them and the negative stereotypes and they're ashamed of being Muslim? So there is that, that has been the case. I had a woman once come up to me and we were talking and she's just like, well, why is the Qur'an very negative? And I looked at her and I said, the beginning of every surah starts with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, which is in the name of God, the most merciful, right? So if every surah is starting that way, it can't be such a negative, hate-mongering book. So I mean, I think that people who are misguided are misguided because of what they're hearing. So yes, there is a lot of misinformation. And if we're looking at Google to help us solve the answer, we already know that Google is being taken care of by the Zionists. So all the information we get, a lot of information we get, unless it's reliable source, is not something we can use. Thank you. I liked all the topics discussed in this podcast and thank you for your time. Thank you. This was fun.