Welcome to ‘Eyb, the newsletter in which I write frankly on topics that growing up as an Arab woman I would often be told are shameful, or ‘eyb. I also write about current affairs and issues affecting women and marginalised communities.
Sometimes I share my crazy life anecdotes as well as my reading/viewing/listening recommendations.
If you’ve recently subscribed, a double welcome, or ahlan wa sahlan, to you!
They picked Akanni up one morning
Beat him soft like clay
And stuffed him down the belly
Of a waiting Jeep.
What business of mine is it
So long they don't take the yam
From my savouring mouth?
They came one night
Booted the whole house awake
And dragged Danladi out,
Then off to a lengthy absence.
What business of mine is it
So long they don't take the yam
From my savouring mouth?
Chinwe went to work one day
Only to find her job was gone:
No query, no warning, no probe –
Just one neat sack for a stainless record.
What business of mine is it
So long they don't take the yam
From my savouring mouth?
And then one evening
As I sat down to eat my yam
A knock on the door froze my hungry hand.
The jeep was waiting on my bewildered lawn
Waiting, waiting in its usual silence.
- Niyi Osundare, Not My Business
If you went to a British secondary school or studied the British curriculum, you may be familiar with this poem by Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare, written in defiance of the Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha in the Nineties. Osundare speaks of a man who ignores the forced disappearances and brutality of people around him and does not care as long as it does not affect him…until one day, it does affect him.
I think Not My Business is the perfect summary of how we are in Britain today. Many of us turn a blind eye to current affairs, issues like the revocation of landmark laws such as Roe vs. Wade, authoritarianism, police brutality and torture in other countries, the fallout of catastrophic natural disasters as a consequence of climate change, and genocide and apartheid, because we are in a position of privilege to ignore them and we honestly believe these issues will never arrive on our own doorstep.
I was at Bradford Literature Festival last weekend and attended a talk about Egypt’s most famous political prisoner, Alaa Abdel Fattah, and his book You Have Not Yet Been Defeated (portions of the book having been written from prison). On the panel was his mother, Dr. Laila Soueif, and award-winning Pakistani-British author, Kamila Shamsie.
One of the points they discussed - along with an Egyptian participant in the audience - was how many of us in Western democracies live in a state of ignorant bliss in which we believe that the issues plaguing countries in the Global South will not affect us. Here in Britain we even look upon America and the recent revocation of certain laws and rights and think it won’t happen here.
Centre: Kamila Shamsie, Right: Dr Laila Souief
But it can happen here - the recent Public Order Act 2023 makes certain forms of protest a criminal offence and it is up to our police force to determine whether or not a protest “disrupts public order.”
We also had a near miss this year when the British government proposed the Bill of Rights Bill to replace the Human Rights Act - thankfully at the end of June 2023 the Government announced that it would not be proceeding with it.
If the Bill had been passed, our protection rights in the UK would have been seriously weakened. Public authorities would have had less of an obligation to safeguard our rights and the likelihood of police violence and inhumane and degrading treatment would have been even greater. Police would be more likely to get away with not investigating crimes like sexual assault, rape and human trafficking. It would have reduced our accessibility to justice.
And when such laws are being passed or proposed in the most “democratic” of countries, it provides more fodder for already authoritarian regimes to say, “Well if it’s happening in America and Britain…”
At the moment over on Twitter sh*t is hitting the fan, but for me, it is a great source of news. There is an element of cognitive dissonance to some extent on social media platforms, it’s true - you tend to follow people who uphold the same perspectives and views - but it is a great platform for sharing and discovering articles that I would never have come across myself, exposing myself to news stories, new information and new views.
We need to care about current affairs before we become a current affair.
What I’ve been working on…
This week (1st - 7th July 2023) I am delivering Prayer for the Day on BBC Radio 4. It airs at 5:43am (it was pre-recorded as I am not usually awake at that time) and for two minutes each morning I have been delivering a dose of positivity along with a little prayer for listeners to start their day with. You can catch up and listen to them at any time on BBC Sounds.
What I’ve been reading…
A few other Substacks that I have really been enjoying recently:
Journalist diyora shadijanova’s dispatches from her homeland of Uzbekistan in windowsill.
Journalist and author Salma El-Wardany’s deeply vulnerable, frank and raw Sunday Cervix.
Journalist and author Alya Mooro’s latest Substack series, The Stories That Made Me, part of The Greater Conversation.
What has brought me joy…
I am huge fan of writer and journalist Tahmina Begum’s Substack, The Aram. In each newsletter, Tahmina shares with her subscribers what brings her peace and joy. Feeling inspired by Tahmina, I’d like to share something that brought me an immense amount of joy last week. I went to Sufiyana Kalaam at Bradford Literature Festival and attended my very first live Qawwali performance by well-known Pakistani Qawwali ensemble, Fareed Ayaz, Abu Muhammad Qawwal and Brothers. What is Qawwali you ask? It’s a form of devotional signing by Sufi Muslims, originating in the South Asian Subcontinent. I am now a massive fan.
Finally, if you enjoy my work and want to support me, consider buying a copy of my semi-autobiographical novel, Hijab and Red Lipstick, published by Hashtag Press.
Longlisted for The Diverse Book Awards 2021, Hijab and Red Lipstick is a rare insight into what life is like as a young Arab woman growing up in the Arab Gulf. Find it on Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith and Blackwells.