I read We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir twice and thought it was terrific book. Her journalism training and experience is very much in evidence. She seems to be one strong, creative woman, who has reflected a great deal on her upbringing and has given it a lot of thought, analysis and processing. Inspiring individual courage and activism on Samra Habib's part.
I would categorize it as a memoir/essay combination. Picked it up before the long list for 2020 Canada Reads was announced and having read it am pleased that it made the shortlist. Just finished We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir. Here are a few comments I made about the book in an on-line Book Club: They will likely have to be a late addition to the page.I think the "WE" in the title is the LGBTQ+ community around the world and everyone else who feels like they are different, don't fit it and cannot openly be their true selves. I can't send you the Discussion Questions for a bit as I can't find any online and I haven't even received the book to read it yet to come up with questions. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one's truest self. So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes her to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within her all along. The men in her life wanted to police her, the women in her life had only shown her the example of pious obedience, and her body was a problem to be solved.
Backed into a corner, her need for a safe space-in which to grow and nurture her creative, feminist spirit-became dire. When her family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of challenges: bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. From her parents, she internalized the lesson that revealing her identity could put her in grave danger.
As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, she faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. Samra Habib has spent most of her life searching for the safety to be herself.
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