A Conversation with Siema
Siema is one of our new fellows from the Ohio State University College of Social Work! A former dentist, Siema comes into the social justice space from an immigrant perspective, dedicated to ensuring that all people feel safe and have the autonomy to live their best lives. Check out our casual coffee conversation down below:
Olivia: “How have your previous experiences led you to Ohio Women’s Alliance’s work?”
Siema: “I think being an immigrant would be my first top thing, I came here in ‘98, and I was so attached to back home that I never really cared about people's issues here, because they didn't concern me, and because I always knew that I was going back home. The idea was that we come for a few years, get our graduate studies, and go back. So I didn't move to the US to stay. So really everything was over my head, not my problem. I didn't even listen to the news, honestly, I didn't follow anything, I was just following back home until I graduated. I finished dental school and then started working. And then it started hitting me that when you are in a university setting you’re in a cocoon a little bit, and then September 11 happened when I was in dental school. And that's when you get grabbed into politics and grabbed into what's happening to people here because you are here, and this is happening to you. So I started getting harassment because of my head-covering. When I started working in private practice some patients don't want you to treat them. But then again, I was a little bit detached, I always felt like I had a home to go back to. I thought, “If this gets too big, I'll just grab my family and move back.” And we did that in a way. When it became too much we moved to Saudi Arabia for a few years. And then I realized that there are issues there as well. You can't just keep moving away from world problems and social justice issues. In Saudi Arabia, the Asian workers were being harassed and I had an idea what these people are feeling. The way they're treated was the way I was treated in the US and that made it click. You can't escape, you know, if I'm here I'm going to have issues that are particular to my people here. And that's when I started feeling that okay the US isn't that bad. I thought, “I'd like to go back and maybe work more along these things.” I still didn't have an idea what I was going to do. So I came back to Columbus, and I started working part-time as a dentist. Then I volunteered with Columbus Refugee Immigration Services (CRIS), and they're the ones who directed me to a job as an interpreter in Asian American Community Services. And that's when I met all these refugees from Iraq, and their stories and how they're treated here. It was very triggering, and it took me back to what happened to me. It was emotional - a PTSD feeling of being not wanted and being treated badly. And I realized that I have so much to offer and I can do a lot about it. I needed to go into something more not in the dental field. And that's how I ended up thinking about going into social work and public policy. When I was accepted into OSU, I was introduced to Ohio Women's Alliance through the Ready to Run program from The Glenn College. I never saw myself as somebody in policy or politics, I'm too timid. But I knew that there were other ways to help, you don't have to be at the front but you can do stuff in other ways and I just wanted to learn about how I can do these things.”
Olivia: “What are you most excited about in your role with us?”
Siema: “I feel it's a very empowering organization, I liked attending the webinars. Every time I'm fascinated by a new speaker, for example, or, or how these like last week. What was it like what black women want from Biden? Yeah. That young girl who was 18. And I love that there is this platform that these women can come and just voice their concerns or what they, their vision is for themselves and for women who look like them. And I just love that about here I feel like there are ways to empower women, especially women of color. And I love seeing all these women talk and it makes me feel really good and I get to learn from them and it's just it. That's, I think it's very motivating for me. I've attended other places but mainly either white or black. I love here that there's a mix. Oh, you get to see the perspectives and what everybody's doing together.”
Olivia: “Why do you think this work on the Women's Wellness Program is important for collective liberation?”
Siema: “All right, it sounds cliche but I think it's true that as long as there is a part of the community that's not well, we all can't be well. So I mean you can get along like I did, so long, by ignoring problems and you say, “Oh, it doesn't concern me I'm living well and everything.” You know the Upper Arlington suburb. People have lived so long in a bubble and anything outside doesn't concern them, it's mainly 99% white and everybody's happy and everybody's rich and education is great, but then they realized recently that you can't live like that. Especially nowadays when the world is so interconnected and interdependent. When areas in Columbus are suffering for example from poverty and mental health issues, guess what? it's gonna trickle down to you whether you like it or not. You're going to be working with these people. When crime rates increase, you can’t build a wall around your part of town. So, if you don't uplift everybody in the community, empower, educate and provide a decent living and basic human rights, then we all can’t be comfortable and live safely.”
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