Mohamed Semra

People respect you a lot more if you show up as yourself and you show up as yourself all the time.

A lot of times.

Being a young black boy growing up in Australia, going to school, not seeing yourself represented in the curriculum, not seeing yourself represented in the staffing, it's easy to dissociate yourself from an environment where you feel like you don't belong.

There were so many times where I felt like I did not belong and that was a shared experience with those that

you know looked like me and especially African boys around the ages of you know 13 to 17 because I remember when I was in high school there was an African gang narrative

And marginalized communities, especially the African community, don't feel like they have control over their own narrative.

It's being told for us, either by politicians using our community as political footballs or the media that is pushing a narrative that is not the full picture.

And so, you know, it has impacted a lot of people that I grew up with and their sense of belief in themselves.

Because, you know, it's hard to want to do more or have ambition when you feel like everyone's painting a picture that isn't the truth.

And trying to combat all of that is a lot harder than saying to yourself, if everyone thinks this is who I am, then it's easier just to be that.

We had a strong camaraderie because obviously in the absence of that sense of belonging, you find it within similarities.

And I had a lot of similarities with my friends.

But we were extremely lucky in the sense that we went to a school where we had certain teachers that really backed us.

All young people really need is someone to identify their potential and invest in it.

And I'm not sure if you know this, but growing up I had a debilitating stutter.

And that's one layer of the many...

that I had to go through, but that's a similar story with so many other young people, right?

There are barriers that they are facing on their own.

And there are other barriers that they are facing together with other young people or other young people that look like them or from marginalized communities.

And so it's, it's informed, I think the work that I do, especially in, you know, running my youth organization and