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Oral history interview with Farhia Ibrahim, 2019 February 2
Overview of the Collection
- Interviewee
- Ibrahim, Farhia, 1995-
- Title
- Oral history interview with Farhia Ibrahim
- Dates
- 2019 February 22019-02-022019-02-02
- Quantity
- 479 megabytes, (1 audio file (WAV, 1 hr., 35 min., 2 sec.))
- Collection Number
- SR 12307
- Summary
- Oral history interview with Farhia Ibrahim conducted by Shea Seery and Sankar Raman on February 2, 2019, for The Immigrant Story. Ibrahim discusses her experiences as a Muslim refugee from Somalia in Egypt and in Oregon.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Farhia Ibrahim was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1995. When she was 7 years old, her family relocated to Egypt, where her father was working. A few years later, her father left to find work in the Netherlands, while the rest of the family remained in Egypt. Her family applied for refugee status in the United States, and in 2010 they were relocated to Oregon. They lived in Portland and Salem before settling in Hillsboro. Ibrahim attended Portland Community College, and in 2021, she earned a bachelor's degree from Portland State University.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This oral history interview with Farhia Ibrahim was conducted by Shea Seery and Sankar Raman on February 2, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States.
In this interview, Ibrahim discusses her early life in Somalia and in Egypt and speaks about her family's reasons for relocating to Egypt. She talks about life in Cairo, Egypt, and discusses her education, including learning Arabic, bullying she experienced, and transferring to a madrassa. She also talks about experiencing street harassment in Cairo. She shares her memories of the Arab Spring, talks about the process of applying for refugee status in the United States, and describes her living conditions in Egypt. She then discusses adjusting to life in the U.S., her experiences at an American high school, and learning English. She speaks about harassment she experienced for wearing a hijab. She then talks about studying at Portland Community College, about her experiences studying at Portland State University, and about the ethnic diversity of the student body. She closes the interview by sharing her plans for the future, by further describing instances of harassment she experienced for wearing a hijab, and by talking about her interest in photography.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
Oral history interview with Farhia Ibrahim, by Shea Seery and Sankar Raman, SR 12307, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Gift of The Immigrant Story, June 2021 (RL2021-057).
Preservation Note
Access to audio recording is provided online in OHS Digital Collections.
Bibliography
An article about Farhia Ibrahim, "Headphones In, Hate Speech Out" by Shea Seery, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/headphones/.
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Bullying in schools--Egypt
- Bullying in schools--Oregon
- College students--Oregon
- Immigrants--Oregon
- Islamophobia--United States
- Refugees--Somalia
- Somali Americans--Oregon
Personal Names
- Ibrahim, Farhia, 1995-
Form or Genre Terms
- interviews
- oral histories (literary works)
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Raman, Sankar (interviewer)
- Seery, Shea (interviewer)
Corporate Names
- The Immigrant Story (Hillsboro, Or.)