I will be speaking at a private Islamic high school here in the Toronto area next month and this will be quite an event as far as bridging cultural gaps since I’m not Muslim. The school wants me to do my youth speaking program which is part diversity and part motivation. They also like the fact that since I’m Asian, I’m also a visible minority here in Canada but come from a Chinese Canadian family that has been here since about 1958. We’ve had lots of experience as visible minorities in North America so there is a lot that can be passed onto both the students as well as the school staff.
In order to have a successful event, I will be meeting with some of the parents, the school principal and other staff this week at my request so that I can be briefed on Islamic customs for the talk in May. I would not want to do anything that ends up offending any Muslims in the audience so I think this advance research is absolutely necessary.
