Muslim youth learn to tell their own stories at media literacy workshop
Organizers hope youth will learn to push back against negative cultural stereotypes
CBC News | November 19, 2016
A group of Muslim youth spent their Saturday at a workshop learning about Islamophobia and the media.
The event, organized by the National Council of Canadian Muslims, is meant to help young Muslims push back against negative stereotypes.
« I feel like there is a really one-dimensional perception of Muslims: they’re all really conservative, they’re very insular, they keep to themselves. » said Rudayna Bahubeshi.
A Muslim herself, Bahubeshi works with the InSpirit Foundation, one of the groups that partnered in hosting the workshop.
She describes herself as « a non-visibly Muslim woman, » meaning that since she isn’t veiled, her religion isn’t immediately identifiable at first glance.
« I don’t necessarily come into spaces and receive those same reactions as perhaps the veiled women in my family do, and that’s also really troubling because we have very similar politics, » she said.