At nearly 10,000 people, Somalis make up the largest Black population in Edmonton, according to the 2016 census. In some local neighbourhoods, being a Black hijabi can be unremarkable. But the possibility of another traumatizing attack forever haunts many Black Muslim women in the Albertan capital.
“It’s been a year, but it’s still very raw,” said Hannan Mohamud, an Edmonton community organizer, advocate and University of Ottawa law student. “It’s like a circle of multiple systems that failed us, whether it be law and policy, health, psychology — it all comes together.”
To Mohamud, the uptick in violence can be