Black History Month Spotlight: Muslim Awards for Excellence
The Muslim Awards for Excellence (MAX) has highlighted Dr. Caroline Shenaz Hossein for their Women In Leadership Campaign.
In recognition of Black History Month, our first few spotlights will focus on Black women who exhibit strong leadership and have made large impacts in the community. We sat down with Caroline Shenaz Hossein, PhD, Associate Professor of Business & Society in the Department of Social Science at York University, award-winning researcher and author, and founder of the Diverse Solidarity Economies Collective.⠀
Caroline focusses on feminist economics and critical political economy, specifically around the exclusion of minority populations such as Black women from goods and services like banking and access to credit. Her film, The Banker Ladies, documents how Black women in Toronto create diverse financial services for their communities through Rotating Saving and Credit Associations (ROSCAs).⠀
"...In my business research, in Toronto, I found that Black women are excluded from many everyday things like banking, and Black Muslim women are even more oppressed because of the intense forms of Islamophobia in this country. I have found that Black Muslim women are organizing their own forms of economic cooperatives; for example the Sudanese call it Sandooq, which means box; or Somalis have Ayuuto which means help. When we see inequities, Black Muslim women are not idling away; they are coming together to show what they can do by pooling financial goods to help each other...It is important to learn from the ways in which Muslim women are alienated – and that is wrong – but also to find ways to support the initiatives and self-managed co-ops they organize."⠀
Caroline's advice to young women facing criticism or harassment for their work:⠀
"...When I shared my empirical work, I faced an onslaught of anti-Black and anti-Muslim hatred from Canadians from all walks of life...because of my name and because I am recognizing the cooperative contribution by Muslim Canadian women. Young Muslim women should be proud of who they are and not feel pressured to immediately respond to ignorance. You are in control of your voice, and with time and experience you will own your script and narrative of how you want to project yourself. Excellence does not respond to mediocrity."⠀