Enas Satir Designs
Toronto, Canada M6P1M6 Toronto, ON, Canada

I traveled to Kuala Lumpur last summer to see my family. Being into photography, I decided to buy a new camera while I was there. My father who knows a lot about cameras, recommended the Sony a7II, which was one of the newer models at the time. We went to the store for what we thought was a straight-forward purchase. It wasn’t. We gave the guy the camera model we wanted, but he blatantly refused to even show it to us. He kept saying No, this is too expensive for you.. we... kept telling him that this is what we want to buy.. or if we can at least see it and decide for ourselves. He kept refusing and pushing no name brands that are much cheaper saying These are more suitable for you.. This bizarre interaction that continued for quite some time made us look around the store to see that all the other customers whether Asian or White were given the models they asked for, not what the seller thought was suitable for them the assumption that they can or can’t afford these models was never brought up.. We eventually gave up on getting the guy to let us see the camera, let alone sell it to us. I made sure to give him a piece of my mind before leaving the store. See more

Story time: I was on a trip with the organization I worked for in Eastern Sudan. That day we were flying back to Khartoum. The official at the airport counter asked me for my travel permit. (Foreigners need a travel permit to travel within Sudan). I told him that I don’t need one because I am Sudanese, not a foreigner, and pointed to my Sudanese passport that he was already holding. Other than the fact that we were speaking in Arabic-Sudanese to begin with. The guy thre...w a tantrum that he wouldn’t let me on the plane, because I can’t be Sudanese and he doesn’t care that my passport says I am. On the other hand, my fair-skinned Sudanese colleague who was standing next to me was not questioned on her Sudan-ness.. Eventually my manager had to intervene and convince the guy that I am Sudanese, after a long back and forth I was finally ‘allowed’ to board. I share this story because the way I was made to feel that day, being in my own country, among my own people and being told that I don’t belong, only reminds me of South Sudanese who were probably made to feel this way on the daily. After our revolution last year and our fight for freedom, I wonder if we as North Sudanese, can ever really be free if we don’t acknowledge and come to terms with the freedom we took from others. See more

I can’t talk about colorism, without talking about bleaching. The pressure my younger self was subjected from other black women, especially the women in my own family to ‘fix my skin’, because ‘it looks dirty’, and how come I don’t want to look clean and how I will never be marriage-material, cause no man wants a woman who is darker than himyou don’t want him to think you are not bit-arab= not an Arab All this is B.S.... Bleaching is a form of self-loathing. Dark skin is beautiful and it’s not only ‘beautiful in social media’.. It’s beautiful PERIOD. See more

When I moved back to Sudan, which was at the time the largest African country, I thought since everyone is black, my dark skin will not be comment-worthy. I was wrong. I used to hear comments on my dark skin almost on the dailyIf only you weren’t so dark.. you’re so dark I thought you’re African, not Sudanese.. etc That’s not only an issue of Colorism among black people, but Sudan has a complex identity. We are Afro-Arabs.. Over the years our African identity becam...e dominated by an Arab one. I was shocked to realize that people use the word ‘slave’ so openly and casually, even people from my immediate family would refer to someone from West or South Sudan as a slave Why don’t you hire a salve to clean the place for you?.. A slave will always be a slave.. would be the comeback if someone who looked just like me had an ‘attitude’. these statements were thrown around like they were facts. This dynamic in my own country by my own people has been utterly confusing and agonizing throughout the years I’ve lived in Sudan. Now that I moved to the other side of the world I still don’t get it. See more

I’m not sure if I can count the number of times I was automatically assumed to be the maid based on the colour of my skin. I’m not sure if I can count the number of times I was automatically assumed to be the maid based on the colour of my skin. One time that I remember very well... I was invited to a wedding when I was living in Bahrain. I arrived there and the family who were greeting guests at the entrance, kept looking at me up and down, clearly confused on what I wa...s doing there especially with reaching out my hand to shake theirs...after a long moment of awkwardness I retracted my hand and found my self gestured to be seated at the maids table. *Just for context: Working as a maid, the help or a server is unfortunately looked down at in most Gulf countries, there are so many examples of discrimination against domestic help, that is not limited to black maids, but also extends to other backgrounds as well...(that in itself is a whole different topic when it comes to cultural dynamics in gulf countries). *On another related but different note, to understand the work conditions in Gulf countries, it is also important to understand the Kafala system, which is the employment system implemented in Gulf countries, where the migrant worker is contracted to a ‘Kafeel’. This system is generally referred to as modern-day slavery. For further details on this check out @nouriflayhan who is an awesome illustrator who touches on Kafala System through her illustrations. See more