Tagged: new york immigrant
Written by Jahaida Hernández Jesurum It’s challenging to talk about Zahra Noorbakhsh without bringing up religion. So much of the California-born Iranian-American’s work focuses on the fact that she is Muslim — but perhaps not in the way you might expect: through comedy. Noorbakhsh, a comedian, full-time actress, writer, and host of the podcast #GoodMuslimBadMuslim, loves making people laugh in unexpected ways. In her second one-woman comedy show, Hijab and Hammerpants, which debuted in 2015, Noorbakhsh explored the conflicting...
Written by Jahaida Hernández Jesurum Most of the time, children have no say over choices that are made for them — and immigrant children are not exempt from this. Kids must rely on the fact that their parents are making the best decisions for them based on their best judgement. And in most cases they do. This was the case of author Nadia Al Sultani’s mother, who decided to leave a prewar Iraq in 1980, when Al Sultani was 10...
Written by Lilly Maier Jahaida Hernández Jesurum left her hometown, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, in her early twenties. After a short detour in Spain, she immigrated to New York in 2007, becoming part of the largest foreign-born group in the city. Dominicans make up 12 percent of all immigrant New Yorkers, relegating Mexicans (the country’s biggest immigrant group) to third place, according to an official report by the city. After years of working odd jobs and...
Written by Jahaida Hernández Jesurum As the autumn welcomes New Women New Yorkers’ third and fourth LEAD workshop series of the year (don’t wait to sign-up!), I felt inspired to showcase not only a strong woman immigrant, but also a woman immigrant who is a mother and serves as a role model by having done a remarkable job accomplishing her career goals and dreams. That’s what most women dream of today: the full package. Darshana Manji Dadhania, M.D., was born in the...
