Tasnim Hossain was born in New York in 2000 to an Ethiopian mother and Bangladeshi father, and grew up deeply connected to both cultures and her Muslim identity. Her object is a prayer shawl her mom brought from Ethiopia thats followed her to places that didn't make that identity easy to express.

She attended a predominantly white private high school, where she became conscious of how different she was from the people around her. Going to college in Texas, she found herself going out, partying, and trying to fit in, while still coming home at night and wrapping herself in her shawl to log into her Quran class. She remembers feeling split. There was the version of her who wanted to fit in with her friends without feeling like an outsider, and the version who remained deeply connected to her roots.

After graduating, she stayed in Texas for two years. One night, she was talking to a guy who didn’t know she was Muslim, when the conversation shifted to “the muslim takeover of the west.” Uncomfortable and frozen, she shrunk when someone said, “you know she’s Muslim right?” The guy spat at her feet and walked away. That made it clear to her that she didn't want to build a life in places where hiding parts of herself was necessary to belong. She moved back with her parents to New York a month later. Being back for the past year, she now goes to Jummah prayers every week, meets people through the community, and jokes about “husband hunting” in Astoria’s many Yemeni coffee shops. 

– Ariba Hassan

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant