My name is Mustafa Mahmoud. A young Black man of Somalian descent living in the City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario. I was born in the region of Mount Shimbiris in the great nation of Somaliland. The first day of February 1987. My family moved to the Canadian region of Ontario, three years later. My father Hassan Mahmoud is a Manager with OC Transpo, the Transportation Authority of Canada's Capital City. My mother Nadifa Mahmoud is a schoolteacher at Ottawa South's very own Laurier Military Academy, where she teaches Mathematics. We do alright for ourselves in the Confederation of Canada's Capital Region. Just a middle-class family of Black Muslims from Somaliland trying our hand at the North American Dream.
My folks have always stressed the value of education to my siblings and I. And you know what? They were absolutely right. My older brother Taban Mahmoud is a graduate of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law. These days, he works for a Law firm in downtown Toronto. He recently got married to a beautiful Haitian woman named Nicole Etienne. They met in Law School. My brother is my hero, folks. He continues to inspire me to keep going, even though he lives far away. My older sister Ayanna Mahmoud is currently studying Computer Science at the University of Victoria in the Province of British Columbia. She's engaged to this Jamaican-born RCMP Officer named Marlowe Jackson. First time I ever saw a Black guy in an RCMP uniform, to tell you the truth. I don't like cops and I don't like him but my sister says he makes her happy. What can I do, right?
Anyhow, my siblings can take care of themselves. I've got my own life to live. These days, I'm a business major at Carleton University in the Nepean suburb of Ottawa. I like my school. It's fairly diverse. Lots of people from all over including Haitians, Mexicans, Irish, Saudis, Chinese, Ethiopians, Koreans, Italians, French-Canadians and of course us unforgettable Somalians. A lot of people seem surprised that a six-foot-five, bulky and chubby but ruggedly handsome Somali stud like myself is one of the top students in the business program at Carleton University. I don't know why. I know lots of educated Black men in places like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Of all the big Canadian cities, Ottawa is the most resistant to progress.
I recently went to the City of Calgary in the Canadian Province of Alberta. The heart of redneck country. I found Calgary folks oddly charming and quite friendly. Their Mayor is a Muslim guy, believe it or not. He's of Arabic descent. Lots of Blacks, Asians and Hispanics make their home in Calgary. I think it's a promising City. Too bad it's got a reputation for racism. The way I figure it, there are racists everywhere. You shouldn't let that colour your opinion of a place. I have met Black lawyers, Black doctors and high-ranking Black businessmen in the supposedly regressive City of Calgary. Ottawa has a reputation for being a nice, friendly City but you'd do well to watch your back down there. Strange but true. Calgarians tell you straight up whether they like you or not. Ottawa people are fake and will stab you in the back after pretending to be friendly to you if you're a minority. Just my two cents.
I've had a lot happen in my life lately, folks. I broke up with my longtime fiancΓ©e Henriette Saint-Preux. The tall, blonde-haired and green-eyed French-Canadian beauty I met in the City of Montreal three years ago. We've been dating for what seemed like forever. That's why I was stunned when she dumped me for some British guy named Russell or something. I mean, we were planning on getting married. And then she did me in like this. I knew her Quebecer parents were opposed to us dating but I thought she didn't care. We were living together and everything! Oh, well. I guess you just never really know what's in someone's heart. That's why I decided I will never date another White woman again. No more White females. They act like they love you and don't care about colour or cultural differences and then they coldly dump your Black ass and act like you don't exist. They're cold bitches, man. I learned my lesson. No more White women. I'm going to stick to my Black women from now on.
I recently started dating this beautiful Somalian gal named Bashirah Abdul-Mutallib. You've got to see her, man. Five feet eight inches of absolute Black feminine perfection. Light brown skin. Sparkling brown eyes. Long Black hair that flows freely from her shoulders on those rare times that she's not veiled. The first time I saw Bashirah, it was lust at first sight. Oops, I meant love. She moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, directly from the City of Hobyo in Somaliland. And for the most part, though she is fluent in English, she's been experiencing some culture shock. Africa and North America are radically different places. The Confederation of Canada and Somaliland are as different as night and day. Myself I had some trouble adjusting but I had my family with me.