Hindtrospectives
Khadega Mohammed, 17, high school senior – Canton, MI.
“I am a spoken word artist, and I am unapologetically black, Muslim, and outspoken. 9 years ago, my family and I arrived on American soil at the JFK airport, the same airport where the 2 Iraqi men were recently turned away after Trump’s #MuslimBan. I am a Sudanese immigrant, who lived in Saudi Arabia before coming to America. My family and I came here in hopes of having a better life, because America to us was the land of opportunity. We genuinely thought we would be welcomed with open arms and will build a home here, and we were and did. America was so different just a few years ago. I never imagined there would ever come a day when people like me would be banned from coming here. I never thought there would come a day when people would look at us as a threat to this democracy.
So let me tell you a little bit about my people; the Sudani people.
See, we are generous people and we always give no matter how little we have.
We are kind people who love to forgive, even those who wrong us.
We are courageous people, who will not allow fear to stop us.
We are people of peace and love
Terrorism has no place within my people, terrorism has no place in my Sudan.
4 years ago, I was naturalized and became an American citizen. I can not help but imagine what would have happened to me today if I had only a visa and I wasn’t granted citizenship. Trump might have been able to ban Sudani people from coming into this country, but he will not be able to ban my Sudani identity. He will not be able to ban the morals instilled within me. He will not be able to let the Nile River stop flowing through me. He will not be able to take Sudan out of me.
I am Sudan.”
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