Melika Belhaj and I discuss how she educates the community about her culture with her poetry, culinary skills and mentorship. We also dive into the complicated definition of identity. She herself identifies as Arab American. We discuss what it means to be Arab and how Eurocentric values tend to shape our thoughts on identity in the western world.

Connect With Melika here

Insta:mvbelhajjj

Web: https://mvbelhaj.com

Connect with Darrian Here

https://darriandouglas.com

or

https://www.patreon.com/DarrianDouglas

Bio

Melika Belhaj writes, cooks, and resides in Portland, Oregon. Her work explores the dynamics of authenticity, tradition, and identity. She self-published and hand bound the chapbook, Binti: Daughter of Arab America, and is one-half of Ya Banat, a storytelling project reframing narratives of the North African Diaspora. Melika offers pop-up dinners that provide space for community to connect and build. She teaches a Community Art & Screen Printing class at her place of work and in her free time plays basketball.