Standing out because of your cultural ancestry, or your skin colour — or, because of your religion.

This week, two stories about growing up Muslim in Australia.

Pro-boxer Bianca Emir speaks to Mariam Chehab about her sport, being a ‘default’ Muslim spokesperson, and her unique childhood – which involved her mother kidnapping her from her dad.

And,

Tasneem Chopra has heard that awful and racist sentiment ‘go back to where you came from’ before.

But the person who said it probably didn’t mean Bendigo, in country Victoria, where Tasneem spent her formative years.

These days, she’s a cross-cultural consultant, author and activist — and one of twelve contributors to the book Growing Up Muslim in Australia.

She tells Meredith Lake about how her family came to arrive in Bendigo from Kenya, the joys of Muslim holiday camps, and how she stuck up for herself and her beliefs at her Anglican school.

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soul-search/how-country-victoria-shaped-tasneem-chopra/10949864

Full episode :

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soul-search/growing-up-muslim-in-australia/10947686