‘I realised I needed to understand what my identities were and I needed to own them as much as I could.’
We share this world. Each person with their own unique set of identities and along the way we are faced with the choice to become self-aware, to have a sense of self and recognise this is who ‘I am’.
Born and raised in Nigeria, Summayyah Sadiq-Ojibara lives in Australia and is a Psychotherapist, Counsellor, Writer, Poet, Speaker, Mother and Person of faith.
Having crossed paths as guest speakers at a virtual summit this year, I instantly resonated with Summayyah’s words. She is an extraordinary woman who has journeyed through the challenges of establishing herself in a new country and owning her identity despite being what Summayyah describes as a ‘minority of a minority’.
In this interview we talk about the move to Australia, her work, her passion and hear excerpts from her book.
For Summayyah, the transition to living in Australia was understandably a cultural shock. Although in Nigeria she had grown accustomed to standing out for being Muslim, arriving in Australia, Summayyah realised she not only stood out for being Muslim but also for being black.
She shares about being over qualified yet not having local experience which meant facing rejection after rejection along with then deciding to restudy to become a qualified psychotherapist and counsellor.
Once qualified Summayyah found continued barriers as clients put her under intense scrutiny and interrogation of who she was. About this experience Summayyah said, ‘People don’t know how to place me because I’m not like someone they have met before’.
Not to be defeated, Summayyah is a huge believer in self-awareness so when it came to self-limiting beliefs she realised, ‘I needed to understand what my identities were and I needed to own them as much as I could.’ saying, ‘I don’t allow discomfort to become a driver’.
As an author and poet, Summayyah’s book Time Travel in my Worlds And Let’s Travel Some Of The Way Together In (Y)ours is a journal of sorts, exploring her identities (her I Ams), Islam, racism, discrimination, diversity and fears as a mother.
About her book she says, ‘I am inviting you to my world. The ‘I Ams’ of my world and then when I invite you to come in I am expecting that you get to go into some of your ‘Ams’, some of what you are, and that way we might find those in-betweens where we share what we are to one another.’
When asked about her work around self-identity, Summayyah outlined three ways to the path of self-belief.
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Have a baseline of sense of self– Do work of self-awareness so you begin to know who you are.
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Own it– Own your identities. This might be as simple the way you dress.
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Constantly work on improving yourself-Do it for you.
You can buy her book Time Travel in my Worlds And Let’s Travel Some Of The Way Together In (Y)ours on amazon.
Connect with Summayyah
Instagram @summayahsadiq >www.instragram.com/summayyahsadiq<
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/summayyah.sadiqojibara
LinkedIn- Summayyah Sadiq-Ojibara https://au.linkedin.com/in/summayyah-sadiq-ojibara-86a32244
Watch the full interview here and fill your cup some more with previous episodes of the Migrant Women of Colour Rising series
I’ll leave you with one final quote from Summayyah’s book,
‘Must I conform, perform, reform to be your form? I will be the form gifted, trusted, vested to me from the designer of all forms. Yours and mine. So to you, your form, to me mine.’
With Love,
Annie
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