On the 11th January
2015 we moved the family to California. This is something that we had been
planning for quite some time, although the reality of it actually happening
sometimes faded into the background as it was often superseded by everyday
life. We have 4 children, Aisha 7, Iqbal 6, Zidan 3 and Afiya 2 and me mum and
dad too.
The ‘dream’ was to come to America and be like everyone else,
be accepted, be happy as this is something that we struggled with where we were
currently living.
Why move so far you ask?
There are many reasons why we decided to move, but the main
one was that we felt as a mixed race family we were not ‘accepted’ in the town
where we lived. People would often say to me ‘oh really, you experience racism’
and the honest answer is yes, yes we did. My son was called a ‘chocolate face’
and my husband was often abused in
subtle ways. We figured that if we can live somewhere where your colour isn't the
first thing you are judged on then that’s a no brainer. In California, no body
looks at you because you have brown skin, people don’t see the colour and it’s
so refreshing and great for the kids.