NOT welcome here!

Today marks 7 years!

I have been an immigrant for 2555 days.

What happens when you hear the word immigrant?

It’s a bad word.

It has negative connotations. Especially for non-White immigrants.

As immigrants of color, we’re fed the lie that, “we steal jobs”, “we’re a burden”.

So we’re not welcome. We don’t belong.

Being fed these lies hurts us to our core.

But then there are some immigrants that are welcome. They just get a fancier lie fed. You often hear them referred to as expats. Less threatening huh?

I am a privileged immigrant. A documented immigrant from the EU.

My red passport gets me in, and mitigates my brown Muslim background.

Yet it does not take away the racism, queerphobia, and Islamophobia that I experience the moment I step onto Turtle Island. A stolen land called the US.

As an in-between’er I don’t belong here or there.

I don’t belong in Denmark or in the US.

In today’s video, I’ll talk about these lies we’re fed, and how this creates internalized oppression.

Internalized oppression makes us believe that we are never good enough. 

This endangers our mental health.

So how do we regulate and move through internalized oppression? Watch this video.

As marginalized individuals, we are taught we are “less than.” That we are unworthy. Unworthy of success, of connections, of being ourselves fully. 

We internalize these messages  from a young age. We learn to be small and minimize our gifts. This does not serve us, and does not serve our community.

Join me for my upcoming TEDx “Reclaiming our Power. Making Ourselves Seen”!

It will happen on Sunday, September 13th at 3PM MST/ 11PM GMT+1 at TEDxCU Pale Blue Dot Livestream.

Get your ticket here. It’s free!

Sending you a hug

Nora