Around the World: PhD Student Mohammed Jibriel Shares Multicultural Journey
I had the incredible opportunity to speak with Mohammed Jibriel, a PhD student in public health at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Juggling Sudanese, Saudi Arabian, Russian, and American cultures, Mohammed exemplifies what it means to live a multicultural life.
In our conversation, he shared how these diverse cultural influences have shaped his open-mindedness, allowing him to navigate new territories with insight. From reflecting on his multicultural background to discussing his thoughts on gender and masculinity, Mohammed offered a profound look into his life’s journey.
Additionally, Mohammed serves as an Interfaith Innovation Fellow and leads bridge building efforts through his role as co-chair for the Black Jewish Alliance. His commitment to fostering understanding and collaboration among different communities is truly inspiring. I enjoy amplifying the stories of men who are positively impacting their communities, so it was a pleasure to speak with Mohammed.
Check out the full interview below.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Suraj: Hi Mohammed! I’m thrilled to chat with you today. Thanks for being willing to be interviewed for The Multicultural Man.
Mohammed: Great to be here!
Suraj: Can you share a little about your background?
Mohammed: I grew up in Saudi Arabia and lived my entire life there. When I graduated from high school, I wanted to travel and see the world. I ended up going to Russia for medical school. It was a crazy decision going from probably the hottest country in the world to one of the coldest nations in the world. That was a huge transition in my life.
Suraj: How long did you stay in Russia?
Mohammed: I lived in Russia for a couple years. I was really young when I moved there. I was 17 years old. I did not speak anything but Arabic, so I had to learn Russian. I went through the program, but then I had an opportunity to come to the United States for a summer course. I just really fell in love with the US, so I made the decision to continue my education here.
Suraj: Your medical school education?
Mohammed: Well I’ve never been really passionate about medicine in a clinical sense. I wanted to do research. So, I received another bachelor of science degree in cell biology at Queens University of Charlotte and then I went to Georgetown University for my master of science degree in biohazardous threat agents and emerging infectious diseases.
Suraj: Very impressive! Afterwards, your doctoral program?
Mohammed: Yeah, I worked for the American Red Cross with their biomedical services department for about a year. Then, I decided to go back for my PhD and now I’m a fourth year PhD student in public health at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
Suraj: Thank you for sharing! I would love to discuss your multicultural experience. You mentioned living in Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the US. What was it like bringing all these cultures to different countries?
Mohammed: I think these different experiences is the reason I consider myself a very open minded and accepting person. Even when I was living in Saudi Arabia, I had a completely different culture at home than a social environment like school.
Suraj: How so?
Mohammed: I had a very Sudanese upbringing at home. The Sudanese culture is not completely different from Saudi culture, but it has its own elements.
Suraj: With growing up in Saudi Arabia and having cultural ties to Sudan, do you feel that you hold both cultures equally as your identity or do you connect more with one?
Mohammed: I think at this point I have my own culture. When people ask me where I am from, I struggle a lot with that question. All these places shaped who I am. Sudan has shaped me. Saudi Arabia has shaped me. I’ve spent most of my adult life in the US and I feel that North Carolina has shaped me. These cultures intersect to create the culture that I have today.
Suraj: I’m assuming that both cultures must have felt different than Russian culture?
Mohammed: I remember an incident specifically. I lived in a very small town about four or five hours away from Moscow. It’s called Voronezh. It’s close to the Ukrainian border. I was one of three or four black people in my entire institution. We had this field trip to a smaller town outside of Voronezh. Children saw me and literally cried because they have never seen a black person in their life before.
Suraj: What did you do?
Mohammed: At the time, I had really big hair. They were pointing at my hair and really wanted to touch it. I was fine with it. Every time I remember this though, I’m surprised that I let them because if I went through this now in the US, I would likely be offended. At the same time, I genuinely thought that moment was an opportunity for people to see that the world is bigger than the little town that they lived in. I wanted to be a part of that.
Suraj: I love that you were able to do that. The point about feeling offended in the US if this happened to you. I’m curious to hear more.
Mohammed: I was really new to Russia and I did not fully understand the culture. I didn’t know what was acceptable and what was not. I’ve been living in the US now for 10 years. I fully understand American culture and I know this is not acceptable here.
Suraj: You bring up an interesting point. Depending on the culture, the same actions may be interpreted differently.
Mohammed: I have a friend named Jordan. He lives in North Carolina and is white. He had a similar experience in Ghana. He lived in a small village in Ghana and told me when he went to the village for the first time, the kids started crying because they had never seen a white person before. This is exactly what happened to me, right? It’s simply that kids are not exposed to people who look different.
Suraj: For sure. Having that exposure is essential for cultivating an open mind, similar to your multicultural experiences and upbringing allowing you to have an open mind. What else did you learn from having these experiences with different cultures?
Mohammed: I was born and raised in Mecca, which is the location for the holiest site for Muslims around the world. There was a sense that we are literally in the center of the world. However, going to Russia and living in the US, I realized that there is no center. I learned that the world is extremely big and complex.
Suraj: It seems living in different places opened up your world. To pivot a little, can you share some of your experiences with masculinity?
Mohammed: Gender is socially constructed. Societies, communities, cultures, and subcultures construct their own meaning of gender. I came from a society that sees gender as a fact. Something that is clearly defined. That has been challenging for me as an emotional, spiritual person. I’ve never been tough or hard. It’s not my true nature. I always had to make justifications or defend myself because I did not fit expectations.
Suraj: How did these gender expectations change for you as you moved around?
Mohammed: In Russia, these structures were even more defined than the experience I had in Saudi Arabia. When I came to the US, there was a completely different experience. I don’t need to provide a lot of explanations or justifications here, so I feel like I can be my authentic self. I’m not saying that I don’t have problems in the US. I still navigate challenges being an immigrant, black, and a Muslim…and as someone whose name is Mohammed.
Suraj: Can you share an example of one of these structures?
Mohammed: In Saudi Arabia, there is a hard separation between men and women in general. In Sudanese culture, it is acceptable for the man in the family to be hanging out with the women in the family. My best friends are my girl cousins in my family. They were the people that I grew up with. I have Saudi friends who have never seen their girl cousins.
Suraj: That must have been tough to straddle multiple cultural expectations and norms as a child.
Mohammed: When I was a child, I was innocent. I would say that I was playing with my girl cousin. In Saudi Arabia, the news would spread amongst the school. The whole school knows that Mohammed is playing with his girl cousin. Then, you become a target for bullying and you hear a lot of unkind things.
Suraj: It seems that kids, regardless of where they live, can be tough at school!
Mohammed: Definitely. I do want to say that Saudi Arabia is also a completely different place today. It’s changing at a very fast pace. It’s becoming more progressive.
Suraj: For sure. Our own experiences in certain places are specific to ourselves and should not be generalized for an entire country. I would love to end with your own definition for what healthy masculinity is.
Mohammed: It’s easier to define masculinity by what it isn’t. Masculinity is socially constructed, so every person is going to give it a meaning. We might disagree or agree on what masculinity is. For me, masculinity is not physically manifested. It is not a hard fact that is biological or genetic.
Suraj: What is it for you?
Mohammed: For me, masculinity is connected to my spiritual being. It’s one thing that I have to understand every day. The Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) said whoever knows himself knows his God. He spoke about being truthful, being trustworthy, being a person of good character. He also said you have to restrain yourself from food. I think that was a metaphoric way of saying that you have to restrain yourself from earthly desires like food, sex, wealth, and fame. He was talking about restraint, which to me, means you have to do a lot of spiritual work.
Suraj: This is an incredible way to think introspectively about masculinity. Let’s end the conversation with the work you are doing now.
Mohammed: I am a co-chair of a group in Charlotte called the Black Jewish Alliance. Our goal is to cultivating understanding, creating authentic relationships, and engaging in dialogues that bridges the gaps between Jewish and black communities.
The biggest event that we do is take a group to a deep south pilgrimage. We visit Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma. We visit historical civil rights sites to learn about black history. We also learn about Jewish engagement during the Civil Rights movement. We engage in interfaith conversations. We are trying to do something positive for the Charlotte community.
Suraj: That is amazing! Thank you so much for the work you are doing. It was a pleasure speaking with you today, Mohammed!
Mohammed: It’s really my honor. Thank you for having me.