Call me Miss A.M. because, well, that's what everyone calls me both at work and at home. My name is Ayaana Malik and I'm a young Black woman of Somali descent living in the City of Calgary, Alberta. I recently graduated from the University of Alberta with a Master's degree in business administration. Presently I work as a manager for Magyar Auto Body, overseeing our locations in the cities of Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer. We have sixteen locations in all of provincial Alberta. Considering how anti-immigrant most people in this province are, I'm lucky to be the face of Magyar Auto Body. The owner, Rutherford Magyar is a Hungarian immigrant and a fellow Muslim, I think that's why he hired me.
When my parents, Mohammed and Khadija Malik left their hometown of Mogadishu, the Capital of Somalia, for the town of Calgary, Alberta, they came to Western Canada with their many hopes and dreams. Leaving your homeland due to war and famine isn't an easy thing to do. Many Somali families came to Canada in the 1980s and early 1990s and many didn't do so well. The differences in culture, religion and politics are among the many reasons why many Somali newcomers to Canada don't do so well. I am happy to say that my family and I are among the exceptions.
My dad worked hard to adapt to life in Western Canada. He learned English and French, got a job as a security guard and went to the University of Calgary where he earned his accounting degree. He began working for the Canadian Revenue Agency in the auditing division seven and a half years after he first set foot in the Confederation of Canada. Not bad for a guy from a third world country, eh? People often act surprised when I tell them that my dad is a high-ranking executive with the infamous tax agency that oversees all of Canada. They often wonder how a Somali man could have risen so far in Canadian society. When will they stop underestimating the Black man? I swear they've learned nothing since the days of Barack Obama!
As for my mother, Khadija Malik, she went to Mount Royal University where she studied Nursing and now works for the Foothills Medical Center near downtown Calgary. It wasn't easy for my parents, that's for sure. The province of Alberta is the most racist place in all of Canada, next to rural Quebec of course. My parents had to adapt to this harsh, hostile land as African immigrants and as Muslims. My mother tearfully told me that she stopped wearing the hijab when she realized that people refused to hire her once they found out about her religion. Several times she got hired after going to an interview sans hijab, started wearing the hijab at work and got terminated shortly after. She got a lawyer and sued but to no avail. Western Canada isn't friendly to people of African descent, especially if they practice a foreign religion.
