Across Her Table Podcast

Episode Notes :

Today I speak with an individual that I have been listening to and learning from for a while now, Mifrah Abid. Mifrah is an activist, advocate of racial equity, and the creator, producer and host of Across Her Table Podcast.

In this episode, Mifrah challenges my beliefs on home and identity (and if there is one thing I love, it's a conversation that expands my thinking). We discuss our thoughts on nationalism and Mirfah explains the concept of jingoism and how it relates to us now. This is such an important conversation for us to be having; I cannot wait for you to listen to and learn from the stories the Mifrah shares.

Courtesy : Lisa Bush, Writer, Educator, Storyteller | Author: Teaching Well and City Hall | Creator: Stories Within Us Podcast | Web: www.lisabush.ca

Zarqa Nawaz is a Canadian icon. When she produced the award-winning show ‘Little Mosque on the Prairie’ in 2007, the show became a household name. An avowed fan of Nora Efron, Zarqa created an all-Canadian sitcom that had funny and well-rounded Muslim characters. This was a far cry from the stereotypical cookie-cutter Muslim characters that the West had been churning out. And the timing was critical too. In 2007, post 9/11 Islamophobia was at its peak. A Muslim point of view in the arts was practically nonexistent and there was little portrayal of Muslims beyond the tired tropes of either ‘terrorist’ or ‘victim’.

It’s been 15 years since then and Zarqa Nawaz is ready for 2022 with two offerings- her first pop fiction novel ‘Jameela Green Ruins everything’ and a web series on CBC Gem called ‘Zarqa’.

Her new book is a noir comedy about Jameela who wants to be on the New York Times bestseller list, but instead gets unwittingly entangled in an international conspiracy around a missing Imam.

To add to the comical escapades, her CBC web series ‘Zarqa’ is about a shallow, self-centered Muslim woman who will stop at nothing to create her own wellness empire- much like Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘Goop’. Hilarity ensues as she also tries to get even with her ex-husband for dating a White yoga instructor half her age!

Join us as we talk about her producing one of Canada’s most successful sitcoms, her immigrant upbringing (“Failure was never an option!”), and growing up as a bullied brown kid in Canada.

Do send in your comments or feedback about this episode by tweeting them to @acrosshertable or e-mailing them at [email protected]  or send us a voice message at http://www.anchor.fm/acrosshertable/message Don't forget to follow Across Her Table on Instagram @acrosshertable (https://www.instagram.com/acrosshertable) Music credit: Oh My - Patrick Patrikios

What happens when an Indian and a Pakistani meet in Canada? We discover our Desi ways! Join us as we rediscover our quintessential South Asian roots and explore the question: What does it mean to be a ‘Desi’? In this mini- series from Across Her Table, Mifrah Abid and Mehreen Shahid talk about our common connections, laugh (and really laugh) at our shared cultural tropes and dig deep into OUR DESI WAYS! 

Over the next few episodes, we will talk about Desi culture, the social norms we grew up with, Bollywood, pop culture, food, history and so much more! The more we talk, the more we realize how similar the Desi experience is across borders. 

Music Credit: Upbeat Funk Pop by Scott Holmes 

January 29 marks a tragic day. It was on this day in 2017 that a shooter barged into a mosque in Quebec city and massacred 6 worshippers. The shooting left 17 children fatherless, 6 women widowed and one man paralyzed for life. We also lost a first responder to the trauma of this attack. The Govt of Canada declared Jan 29 as the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia. The shooter was fueled by Islamophobia and his deep seated hate of Muslims.

To get a deeper look at the trauma and everyday aggressions faced by Canadian Muslims, I talked to Reyhana Patel from Islamic relief Canada. To commemorate the Quebec city mosque victims, IR has released an extensive report called ‘In their words: Untold stories of Islamophobia in Canada’. The report explores first-hand accounts of victims of Islamophobia, including one from Aymen Derbali, who was left paralyzed in the mosque attack. Apart from these heart breaking stories, the report also includes recommendations on how readers can appropriately respond to Islamophobia and be an ally against hate.

Reyhana is Head of Communications and Government Relations at Islamic relief Canada. She was also a broadcast journalist and producer at the BBC. She was also named one of Apolitical’s Top 100 Influencers in Gender Policy in 2021.

Report Link : https://www.islamicreliefcanada.org/what-we-do/research/

Do send in your comments or feedback about this episode by tweeting them to @acrosshertable or e-mailing them at [email protected]  or send us a voice message at http://www.anchor.fm/acrosshertable/message Don't forget to follow Across Her Table on Instagram @acrosshertable (https://www.instagram.com/acrosshertable) 

Music credit: The Introvert - Michael Kobrin

Dr. Muna Saleh is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the Concordia University of Edmonton. She is also the author of several academic papers and the book, ‘Stories We Live and Grow By: (Re)Telling Our Experiences as Muslim Mothers and Daughters’.

Dr. Saleh has long been an advocate for social justice. She talks about ‘generational trauma’ - something her family faced when they were displaced by the ‘Nakba’* (or the ‘Catastrophe)’ in Palestine. Muna recalls how her family was forced to flee the ethnic cleansing and move countries as refugees. She reflects on the nature of oppression and harm and how it persists in our curricula and education systems to this date.

Muna looks back on the stigma of being ‘Palestinian’, and the challenges of settler-colonial oppression that erases so many indigenous people- both in Palestine and even in Canada.

As an educator, she also talks about ‘curriculum violence’. She urges teachers to be mindful of the harmful narratives that continue to oppress learners and offers a simple solution for missteps: ‘When you know better, you do better.’

There is more to Dr. Saleh though. She refuses to be ‘pigeon-holed’ into any stereotype, and you can see her fun side on social media as she pokes fun at racist trolls, and sometimes even her sisters!

Tune in to listen to this multifaceted scholar.

Follow her on Twitter: @DrMunaSaleh

*To know more about the ‘Nakba’: https://bit.ly/33KQiML

Also, check out some of Muna’s incredible work:

https://amzn.to/3KCccCF

https://bit.ly/3GYbEEL

Do send in your comments or feedback about this episode by tweeting them to @acrosshertable or e-mailing them at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow Across Her Table on Instagram @acrosshertable (https://www.instagram.com/acrosshertable) 

Music credit: Oh My - Patrick Patrikios

Welcome to our cross over episode with Waterloo Region’s favorite podcasters Sarah Geidlinger and Marshall Ward. Keep listening to join the discussion, which was both, light hearted and deep.

Do send in your comments or feedback about this episode by tweeting them to @acrosshertable or e-mailing them at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow Across Her Table on Instagram @acrosshertable (https://www.instagram.com/acrosshertable)

Music credit: Oh My - Patrick Patrikios

Iqra Khalid was a 20 something brown Muslim woman with immigrant parents when she decided to run for the House of Commons in 2015. Even with an exceptional record as a lawyer and a human rights advocate, she put her name on the ballot ‘not really expecting to win’. But she won, not once but twice- from the riding of Mississauga Erin Mills- and she has never looked back since.

She introduced for the much debated Bill M- 103- which asked the government to condemn Islamophobia and all forms of religious and racial discrimination. Why did this motion receive so much hate and resistance? How are things different now, 4 years later? Tune in to listen to this trailblazer as she talks about how advocacy and politics CAN be combined.

Bonus question: What is the one secret Desi thing that MP Khalid does that not many people know about? :D Listen to find out!

Do send in your comments or feedback about this episode by tweeting them to @acrosshertable or e-mailing them at [email protected]. Don't forget to follow Across Her Table on Instagram @acrosshertable (https://www.instagram.com/acrosshertable) 

Music credit: Oh My - Patrick Patrikios

The Across Her Table podcast has always been committed to telling authentic stories of women and their immigrant experiences. For two seasons we have talked to remarkable women and heard their inspiring stories. Now we would like to add MORE to the conversation.

Brewing Ideas will explore ideas, trends, and topics that are relevant to people of color in Canada. YOU may be an immigrant, or not, but if you are a person of color, this series is for you.

On our first episode, we talk about libraries and their role in disseminating multiculturalism. Can libraries help create a more inclusive society? Can they help normalize diverse narratives? To get answers, we talked to different libraries and we got some interesting takeaways.

We talked to:

Mark Williams, CEO and Chief Librarian, Milton Public Library, Ontario (https://www.mpl.on.ca/)

Dinah Murdoch of Little Free Diverse Libraries of KW (https://www.kwlittlefreediverselibraries.com/)

Rabia Khokhar, a Toronto District School Board teacher and teacher-librarian, writer and equity advocate (https://www.rabiakhokhar.com/)

Kelly Kipfer, Manager, Community Engagement and Children's Services, Waterloo Public Library, Ontario (wpl.ca)

Other resources:

Sarah Kamya (https://littlefreelibrary.org/why-sharing-diverse-books-in-little-free-libraries-matters/)

Do send in your comments or feedback about this episode by tweeting them to @acrosshertable or e-mailing them at [email protected]  or send us a voice message at http://www.anchor.fm/acrosshertable/message Don't forget to follow Across Her Table on Instagram @acrosshertable (https://www.instagram.com/acrosshertable) Music credit:

City Lights - Audiobinger, Epiphany - Siddhartha Corsus