"Masuma Assad Khalid, you are certainly a controversial young woman," Ali Crawford said, smiling at the Hijab-wearing young South Asian Muslim woman sitting opposite him. The two of them sat inside the Bridgehead CafΓ© located in downtown Ottawa, within walking distance of various businesses and government buildings, including Parliament Hill. At this hour, the cafΓ© was busy, but they might as well be the only ones inside for all that they cared...
Passersby glanced at the rather interesting twosome which sat at a quiet corner of Bridgehead Cafe, talking quite animatedly over coffee. A well-dressed, handsome young black man and a curvy young woman of South Asian descent wearing the Hijab. The only thing out of the ordinary was the fact that there was a camera recording everything that they were saying and doing...
"Salaam, brother, please call me Mama, everyone does, and by the way, all I did was stand up for what was right," Masuma Khalid said softly, and Ali nodded, considering the person sitting opposite him. As a graduate student at Carleton University and a representative of The Charmer, the well-known, often edgy university student newspaper, it was Ali's task to interview one of the most controversial newcomers to the graduate student club.
Masuma "Mama" Khalid made waves around Canada, and perhaps the world, when she spoke against the not so subtle racism at the University of Halifax in Nova Scotia. In Canada, unlike the United States, racism is often subtle, but ever present, and even in these so-called liberal and progressive times, people of color who spoke out against the system were often targeted for reprisal. The University of Halifax at first put Mama Khalid on suspension, then withdrew the disciplinary action against her due to public outcry.
When Mama spoke up against institutional racism at Canadian universities, all kinds of people got pissed. Among them were the lunatic fringe, the xenophobes for whom Masuma Khalid would never be a true Canadian because of her Islamic faith and skin color. They posted all kinds of vitriol online, including threats, and this prompted the University of Halifax to cease all disciplinary actions against Masuma Khalid.
"Mama, please, call me Clay, I'm a grad student just like you," Ali replied, and Mama smiled. When she smiled, her lovely round face lit up. Clad in a long-sleeved hooded black sweatshirt and black sweatpants, her head covered by a dark Hijab, Mama Khalid managed to look both modern and stylish, yet with a cool, laid back kind of style. Casual Hijabi chic, Ali thought with a smile.
"Alright, Clay it is," Mama replied with a smile, and Ali nodded. Prior to the interview, he'd done his homework on Mama Khalid. The curvy, brown-skinned, dark-haired and brown-eyed gal was born in the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Indian Muslim immigrant parents, Faisal and Farroukh Khalid. Tall, bodacious, beautiful and outspoken, Mama Khalid apparently never found a human rights cause she didn't like...
According to Masuma Khalid's profile, she recently graduated from the University of Halifax with a bachelor's degree in political science. The gal also spoke up in solidarity with Indigenous people around the world, black victims of state-sponsored violence in America, and more. She'd gone to Washington D.C. to march with women's rights activism and protest against gender-based oppression. Mama Khalid was fiery, and she was just getting started. What a woman, Ali thought.
"Clay, can I ask you a question?" Mama Khalid said, and Clay's ears perked up, and he looked at her intently. Mama Khalid leaned forward, and pursed her lips. The gal's tone of voice was soft, friendly, and almost meek, but her body envelope, nope, her body language was anything but. Ali, a journalism major at Carleton University, definitely knew how to read people and Mama Khalid was far from the timid gal that she was pretending to be...
"Sure, Masuma, I mean, Mama, ask me anything," Ali replied as he sipped his coffee, and Mama looked at him, a coy smile on her round, beautiful face. When Clay's eyes met Mama's, for some reason his heart skipped a beat, and he felt nervous. In his six years as a journalism student at Carleton University, Clay had perfected the art of the interview, and spoken to everyone from student leaders to local politicians, and more. So what is it about Masuma "Mama" Khalid that made him so nervous?
"Do you flirt with all of your interviewees or am I special?" Masuma Khalid asked Ali, point-blank, and she watched the tall, handsome and well-dressed young black man try in vain not to squirm in his seat. Ali tried to keep his cool and failed, then flashed Masuma a bright grin. The young woman's no-nonsense ways were legendary at this point...
"Oh shit," Ali thought, and he watched as Masuma licked those lips of hers, a rather distracting gesture which sent a thrill down his...not spine, and paused. He forced himself to be calm, adopting a nonchalant demeanor as Masuma looked at him coolly, her behavior that of a woman who thought she had the upper hand. The kitty definitely has claws, Ali thought, admiring Masuma's slyness...
"Ma'am, I try to be friendly and charming, but I'm always a professional, if I offended you, I'm sorry," Ali said, and although his words were serious, his tone of voice was not. Masuma leaned back in her chair, a coy smile on her lovely face, the epitome of calm, cool and collected. And she was not buying an ounce of what he was selling, that much Ali could tell readily...
"Hmm, you were doing so well, and then you lost your spine," Masuma said, rolling her eyes, and then she got up. Ali waited all of three seconds, then rose as well. He shut off the camera, and went after Masuma, who by then had emerged onto Metcalfe Street, one of the busiest spots in the Canadian Capital. She was making her way to the nearby bus stop, and he got distracted by the undulations of her rather considerable derriere...
"Masuma, wait," Ali hollered loudly, and several people turned to look at him. Masuma paused, hands on her hips, grinning as she watched him approach. Ali tucked the camera away in his fanny pack ( not a man-bag ) and then drew closer to the clearly amused Masuma. Smiling and holding out his hands in a nonthreatening manner, Ali closed the gap between them.