Journalism

Samra Habib (they/them) is a writer, photographer, and activist. Their bestselling memoir We Have Always Been Here is an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes them to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within them all along. It’s a triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, and a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one’s truest self.

As a journalist they’ve covered topics ranging from fashion trends and Muslim dating apps to the rise of Islamophobia in the US. Their writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Advocate, and their photo project, “Just Me and Allah,” has been featured in Nylon, i-D, Vanity Fair Italia, Vice, and The Washington Post. Samra works with LGBTQ organizations internationally, raising awareness of issues that impact queer Muslims around the world.

Speaking topic

What’s it like to navigate a new country as an 11-year-old  refugee kid?

Samra explores what it feels like to be an outsider through storytelling that takes audiences through their journey moving to Canada as a refugee kid, feeling like an outsider within Islam and feeling out of place as a racialized queer Muslim person. Borrowed from the themes of their bestselling book We Have Always Been Here, they will talk about the importance of providing cultural safety in order to ensure that people from various backgrounds and experiences can feel seen and heard. Their talk will be grounded in rich storytelling that will draw examples from their own life in order to highlight what it means to feel like you don’t belong, how those childhood wounds shape the rest of your life and a path to healing.

An interactive element to their talk will include audience participation where people are encouraged to reflect on what they might want to tell their younger self, similar to a critical journey in their book that was instrumental in their own healing.

Beyond hashtags and rainbow washing: allyship in practice

Over the past few years, corporations and institutions have been eager to show their support for 2SLGBTQ+ folks in their advertising campaigns and by changing their logo on social media every Pride. But is that enough? What does allyship that brings about meaningful change to the lives of queer folks actually look like? How can corporations and institutions ensure that their support for queer lives goes beyond performative gestures and brings about meaningful change? Samra will propose different possibilities, shaped by many intersectionalities and lived experiences that inform their perspective as a Queer Muslim immigrant.

Selected media

UNHCR profile

Toronto Star 

To book Samra Habib, contact Rob Firing at speakers@transatlanticagency.com.

ETERNITY MARTIS is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University and an award-winning Toronto-based journalist. She was a 2017 National-Magazine-Awards finalist for Best New Writer and the 2018 winner of the Canadian Online Publishing Awards for Best Investigative Article. Her writing has appeared in Vice, Huffington Post, The Walrus, CBC, Hazlitt, The Fader, Salon, and on academic syllabuses around the world. Her work on race and language has influenced media style guide changes across the country. She is the course developer and instructor of Reporting On Race: The Black Community in the Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, the first of its kind in Canada. In 2021, she was the University of British Columbia’s Journalist-in-Residence and Asper Visiting Professor, and the first Non-Fiction Writer in Residence at Simon Fraser University in 2022. She earned an honours BA and a Certificate in Writing from Western University and an MJ from Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2020, she was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by Women’s Executive Network.

Her bestselling debut memoir, They Said This Would Be Fun, was a “Best Book of the Year” pick by Globe and Mail, Apple, Audible and Chapters/Indigo. CBC called the book one of “20 moving Canadian memoirs to read right now” and PopSugar named it one of “5 Books About Race on College Campuses Every Student Should Read.” They Said This Would Be Fun won the 2021 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Non-Fiction and was an Evergreen Award finalist.

Speaker topics

What does it mean to be a student (and woman) of colour on a Canadian university campus today?

In universities across Canada, race-based data is not collected, so it’s almost impossible to understand the needs and challenges of students of colour—and there are many. Even more, there is no formal policy across all universities to deal with racism. According to a CBC investigation, while students of colour experience many race-based incidents on campus, most don’t file a formal complaint because they don’t feel they will be believed.

In this talk, Eternity will share her own journey as a university student on a predominantly white campus—which she details at length in her memoir, They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life, and Growing Up. Debunking the myth of Canada’s racial tolerance and the idea that student life is “breezy”, she leads us through her own experience as a Black young woman on campus and ties it to the devastating history of racism at Canadian universities, the re-emergence of blackface parties, and the rise of the alt-right, white supremacy and hate crimes at schools, both from far-right groups and students.

From there, Eternity will examine the impact of racism on campus on students, detailing well-researched links to poor health and a drop in academic performance, both of which she experienced herself as a student. The talk will end with possibilities for how we can all better support students of colour, from parents, friends, professors and allies, to what administrators and decision-makers can start doing now to make campuses more welcoming for students of colour.

*This talk is also delivered as a workshop with breakout groups to collectively work on ways to implement better support for students of colour.

The power of personal storytelling for marginalized groups

Writing memoir has long disregarded young and marginalized people with questions such as “you’re too young, what could you possibly write about?” “You haven’t been through enough yet,” and “You’re ungrateful—be happy for what you’ve got.” Yet the works of white male memoirists are often celebrated. However, memoir writing has been a tool for marginalized groups for centuries—and now is the best time to reclaim it.

In this talk, Eternity will take you through the history of memoir and personal writing, drawing parallels from history to present-day struggles to show us that while much has changed throughout history, much has stayed the same: narratives from the civil rights era to stories day in the Black Lives Matter era; accounts of sexual assault from the first and second waves of feminism and #MeToo stories; stories from residential school survivors and continual attempts to seek truth and reconciliation today. Next, using her own experience as a memoirist, editor, and writing coach, Eternity examines the role of personal and memoir writing today in our current climate where so many people—immigrants, LGBTQ2S+ people, people of colour, young people—are being dehumanized, and presents the case for why personal writing and putting our stories in the public record is still an act of resistance, and how it can offer healing, societal action, and a way forward.

*This talk is also delivered as a writing workshop, with writing exercises and break out groups to discuss ideas.

A silent killer: Interpartner violence among Millennial women

One of the most prevalent crimes against women in their 20s — also known as Millennial women— is sexual assault, and while there are awareness campaigns by both schools and students, interpartner violence is hardly discussed, despite young women in their early-to-mid 20s being the most at-risk group for interpartner violence (IPV) and one of the most at-risk groups for interpartner homicide in Canada.

When we think of violence against women, it’s often in the context of a domestic problem—an issue that affects often older, married women—or in dating violence situations which involves teenagers. But why aren’t we discussing the group of women navigating abusive relationships while in their 20s?

Eternity takes a closer look at violence against Millennial women by using her own experience and the stories she’s learned through her career as an award-winning journalist to break down the unique factors such as social media, societal myths, race and hookup culture that affect Millennial women’s relationships and reporting of IPV—and how we can all work to better understand and fight violence against young women.

Rethinking Objectivity: The Role Of Journalism In A Social-Justice Era

For decades, journalists have been committed to unbiased reporting and to shining a light on injustices in our society, but what if those two concepts are fundamentally incompatible? In a Black Lives Matter and #MeToo era where politicians, companies and celebrities are taking social justice stances, what role do journalists play in naming and reporting on injustice? And in what ways has objectivity been harmful to marginalized groups?

In this talk, award-winning journalist Eternity Martis will explore how the concept of objectivity has shifted since 2014 with the emergence of the global #BlackLivesMatter movement, and how journalists continue to be essential to how our society understands and responds to injustice.

Using decades of high-profile examples, from the 1989 Central Park Five case, the 1994 Just Desserts case, the Black Lives Matter protests of the 2010s and the 2021 Capitol Hill insurrection, Martis will examine the shocking ways that objectivity has left out the most marginalized voices, stories and truths, and the real-life harm it has caused communities of colour. Martis will also address the urgent role journalists play in an increasingly polarized society, and the new directions journalism is taking to create more inclusive reporting.

The Power of Perception: The impact of journalism on the well-being of Black communities 

How much power does journalism have over people’s lives? More than you think.

Journalism is one of the most popular influences in our society. It determines our perceptions of events, ideas and people, but it also plays a direct role in the well-being of communities — especially underrepresented communities.

Despite journalism and media becoming increasingly more inclusive and accountable in its coverage of race and racism over the past seven years since #BlackLivesMatter, its practices, as well as unchecked bias in the industry, have had real-life consequences for Black communities, causing the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes and a lasting impact on their ability to thrive socially, economically, and politically in our society. Even with the best of intentions, today’s coverage is still causing detrimental effects on the health and well-being of Black communities. In an era of racial reckoning and accountability, how does an industry with so much power ensure it doesn’t continue to cause irreparable harm to Black people?

In this talk, award-winning journalist Eternity Martis will explore how journalism and media — both historically white industries — contribute to negative life outcomes for Black people. From the (lack of) representation of Black characters on TV, to the editorial decisions made by journalists to air viral videos of Black death, Martis will examine the media’s concerning and substantial impact on Black people’s socio-economic status and participation in society, and offer possibilities for both journalists and media consumers to participate in creating practices that have positive and healing impacts on Black communities and their well-being.

To book Eternity Martis, contact Rob Firing at speakers@transatlanticagency.com.

Kamal Al-Solaylee is the author of the national bestseller Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes, which won the 2013 Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for the CBC’s Canada Reads and the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. His second book, Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone), was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for Nonfiction, the Trillium Book Award and won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.  Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From was published in 2021 and was a Globe and Mail and CBC Best Book of the Year.

He’s a regular contributor to various TV and radio programs on Canadian and international networks. He has served on many literary juries, including the Giller Prize, Canada’s top fiction award, and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award.

He was previously a theatre critic at the Globe and Mail and has written reviews and features on arts and politics for all major Canadian publications, winning the Gold Medal for columns in 2019 from the National Magazine Awards. He holds a PhD in English from Nottingham University and is the director of the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Speaking Topics

What being brown in the world today means (to everyone)

While issues of racial discrimination and bias have never really disappeared from public and private conversations, they have returned with a vengeance in the last few years. A global refugee crisis, the election of Donald Trump, Brexit and the mass migration of workers from the developing world have forced most of us to reconsider what we know (or think we do) about race and skin colour on one hand and justice, social cohesion and labour on the other.

In this talk, Kamal Al-Solaylee, journalist, university professor and bestselling author, takes an international look at the intersections of race and politics through the lens of brown skin and the emergence of brownness as distinct racialized experience that often gets left out when we see the world in black and white.

From the emergence of brown workers as the source of cheap labour around the world to the racial baiting of a sitting president of the United States to the return of ethno-nationalism in Europe, Al-Solaylee attempts to explain a world that has become increasingly confusing and unsettling. Throughout this talk and his book Brown, Al-Solaylee stops to take a closer look at the lives of men and women caught in the turmoil of these massive global movements and at Canada’s place in that larger narrative.

Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From

 In this talk, Kamal Al-Solaylee takes his audience on a journey around the world to explore one of the most natural yet frequently misunderstood human experiences: our desire to return to a place of origin, the homeland. Why do many immigrants and refugees leave their adopted home countries to seek a connection with a place they or their parents — and in some cases ancestors — left behind willingly or by force? How do we define belonging or identity in a world where the line between the “here” and the “over there,” our “now” and our “back then” is becoming hard to tell apart. The idea of return as an integral part of the movement of people and our understanding of global migration has received little attention from writers and scholars. Drawing on insights from his book Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From (2021), Al-Solaylee explores the many meanings and stories of return through historical analysis, storytelling and on-the-ground reporting from places as far apart as Jamaica, Spain, Northern Ireland, Ghana, Taiwan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Along the way, he examines his own utterly irrational obsession with returning to his homeland of Yemen, a country in a state of war for more than seven years now. Behind the geopolitics, he illuminates and shares with his audience a subculture of returnees whose stories are inspiring, funny, surprising and, for the most, never-ending.

To book Kamal Al-Solaylee, contact Rob Firing at speakers@transatlanticagency.com.