3. Amal Adam — Behind the magic

Other Expats

One of the ideas behind Other Expats is to share the experiences that we as "other expats" have learned from, to help us all be better people and contribute more to the society. In Malcolm X's 1962 speech, he pointed out that "The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman." Okay, he was talking about America. But it applies to black women around the world. In this episode of the Other Expats podcast, we reached out to Amal Adam, who notes that in addition to fielding ignorant questions, black women face an almost all-around pressure. "Sometimes it's from our own people, other times it's from outsiders—that's why for us we have to always be perfect, like there's no margin for making a mistake because doing so it going to attach you to everything negative so you have to be the model black girl." She, however, noted that she generally feels "safe" in Malaysia.