BIPOC Parenting Series: Rahma's Story

As a community-focused company, Kabrita USA strives to be inclusive and to continuously celebrate diversity. In honor of Black History Month, Kabrita USA is featuring a BIPOC Parenting Series, for the entire month of February. The BIPOC Parenting Series centres BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) parents’ experiences. Our goal is to enhance greater representation of BIPOC parents in the media, as well as to amplify BIPOC voices and stories.

Today, we are sharing Rahma’s story about equipping her children with knowledge and strength to survive and thrive, and being proud of their heritage and faith.

We both come from large families; we are both the eldest of seven kids, so you could say we are born leaders. We have been married for ten years and are blessed to raise these three children together. As you can see, we are a Black Muslim family. Being Black and Muslim means both identities influence the way we parent. We are incredibly aware that our ethnicity and religion shape how we are treated and perceived in this world. But like any other parent, we have always wanted our children to be proud of their heritage and faith and belong no matter where they are.

The truth is our children will face some obstacles, and they will have to deal with more prejudice and judgment than other kids. As their parents, we must prepare them and equip them with the knowledge and strength required to survive and thrive. We don't shy away from having difficult conversations because we believe knowledge is power, and frankly, our children cannot afford to be in the dark on some issues. We are strong advocates of using your voice and want to empower them to do the same.

In our home, we make sure we celebrate our children's existence daily with words of affirmation and images of representation. We buy books and toys that showcase their beauty and depicts them as main characters. We want them to see themselves as the superhero, doctors, scientists, and everything in between.

Our children are also fortunate to have so many other people in their lives that pour wisdom and experience into them. Our large extended families allow us to have a strong support system and the ability to seek advice when we need it. As first-generation-graduates ourselves and raising the first generation born, we are still navigating many foreign realities. However, by pursuing our dreams each day in front of our children, we have no doubt they will do the same and excel in areas we have only begun to discover.

Like all parents, we hope they will get further and achieve far more than their parents and grandparents.

Kabrita USA BIPOC Parenting Series shares genuine stories written by parents from the BIPOC community. Each story offers a different perspective from their personal parenting experience. To read more stories, please visit our Nourish Blog.