I picked up something valuable here from her and her journey, and she challenged my thoughts on a few things towards racism, identity and to privileges of feeling safe. Her story speaks to anyone who has ever felt out of place. Samra’s journey brings light to hiding and the importance of why finding who you identify as is. She began to realize she needed to find her authentic self, who she identified as and with who. Hiding became a familiar way of survival for her, and she continued hiding after reaching Canada as refugees and following the rules of her parents. She was taught to keep her identity a secret to protect herself from danger. Samra Habib starts by sharing her earlier years growing up as an Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan. So I decided to start with what I do by reading and diversify my reading, which lead me to this one, and Canada reads.
I had the impression that things are okay here in Canada, but after the events that took place recently, I have come to realize it’s time for me to step out of that bubble and challenge my thoughts and assumptions. I have to admit I live in a Canadian bubble and my own tiny seduced bubble. We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir is the winner of 2020 Canada reads battling in Canada’s battle of the books for the title of the one book the country should read.
A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one's truest self. So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes them to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within them all along. The men in Samra's life wanted to police them, the women in their life had only shown them the example of pious obedience, and their body was a problem to be solved. Backed into a corner, their need for a safe space-in which to grow and nurture their creative, feminist spirit-became dire. When their family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. From their parents, they internalized the lesson that revealing their identity could put them in grave danger. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, they faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous.
Samra Habib has spent most of their life searching for the safety to be themself. How do you find yourself when the world tells you that you don't exist? ONE OF BOOK RIOT'S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL QUEER BOOKS OF ALL TIME SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 EDNA STAEBLER AWARD FOR CREATIVE NON-FICTION
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