Saamiya Seraj
This interview is with Saamiya Seraj, a Bangladeshi-American immigrant and entrepreneur in Austin, TX. Saamiya shares memories of Bangladesh and her family, then talks about her decision to come to the US for college and graduate school. She talks about her education and work as an engineer, both in the US and in Bangladesh. Saamiya describes the founding of A Better Force, a professional development company that focuses on empowering women and people of color. Saamiya also shares her experiences with cancer, including medical sexism and racism.
Rais Bhuiyan
This interview is with Rais Bhuiyan, the founder of World Without Hate, who currently lives in Seattle, WA. Rais describes his youth in Bangladesh and his first career in the Bangladeshi military before coming to the US for school. He describes his experience of 9/11, after which he was the victim of Islamophobic gun violence, and then experienced food insecurity and medical debt due to his lack of medical insurance. He shares about his decision to try to save his attacker from death row with the help of Amnesty International and fellow humanitarians. Rais also talks about World Without Hate and its current projects.
Content Warning: The following interview contains sensitive material. Please note that the interview includes description of graphic violence and hate crimes. These subjects will be discussed at 21:17 - 26:27 (in the transcript p. 5).
Maesha Meto
This interview is with Maesha Meto, a public affairs grad student and activist in Austin, TX. Maesha talks about her childhood experiences as a young immigrant, such as learning English and feeling alienated from her peers. She shares stories of the Islamophobia she and her family experienced while she was growing up. She also talks about her political awakening and her activist involvement, including police reform work in New York City.
Mehraz Rahman
This interview is with Mehraz Rahman, an outgoing senior at The University of Texas at Austin, serving as Vice President of the student body in her final year. Mehraz discusses navigating her identity as part of a small Bangladeshi community in Austin, a tumultuous election cycle that caused many to question her authenticity, and her personal experiences with assertiveness in male-dominated spaces. As Vice President, Mehraz successfully advocated for the installation of more reflection spaces for students needing a quiet and clean place to pray.