Podcast

Episode 55: Fighting for social justice with Iffat Shahnaz

Iffat Shahnaz

Iffat Shahnaz is a lifelong campaigner committed to social justice and equality. She works with organisations committed to social change and tackling social exclusion and discrimination. She specialises in gender-based violence, community education, facilitation, service development and change management.

We talk about:

  • How Iffat became so passionate about social justice
  • The legacy of her parents and their story as children of partition
  • Being the child of immigrants from the former commonwealth
  • The family trauma that lead to Iffat wanting to make the world a better place for everyone
  • Going back to her parents’ village in India
  • The lack of safe passage when people are facing displacement, at the time of partition and now
  • Why her father was so keen that she should learn to swim
  • How the family managed to get to England from Pakistan
  • Racial abuse growing up in the West Midlands in school and on the street
  • Feeling hopeful despite systemic discrimination
  • The impact of Covid and the Black Lives Matter movement on global awareness of discrimination
  • Getting more aware of what’s going on and the importance of speaking up
  • Confronting racism wherever we find it
  • The importance of being anti-racist instead of just not racist
  • Acknowledging that we are different and that being colour-blind just doesn’t work
  • Understanding racism in the UK and how it differs to the US
  • ‘Good’ and ‘bad’ immigrants
  • The more insidious nature of racism in the UK today
  • How Covid has highlighted so many social justice-related and inequality issues
  • The disproportionate impact of Covid on BAME (Black and minority ethnic) communities
  • How Iffat feels about turning 50 this year
  • Growing our own wisdom as we age and having more of an impact on society as we get older

And more!

Find out more about Iffat:

LinkedIn and Twitter

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