I Would Rather Clean Than Beg.

They Decided To Let Immigrants In And I Am An Immigrant. They Gave Us A Chance To Participate In This Country's Life And I Took It.

It Was Friday, July 24, 1992, When I Stepped On The Train. Every Year I Think Of It. I See It As My Real Birthday: The Birth Of Me As A Person, Making Decisions About My Life On My Own. I Was Not Running Away From Islam, Or To Democracy. I Didn't Have Any Big Ideas Then. I Was Just A Young Girl And Wanted Some Way To Be Me; So I Bolted Into The Unknown.

You'll Be Pleased To Hear, Christopher, That I Am No Longer A Muslim Liberal But An Atheist [....] I Find That It Obviates The Necessity For Any Cognitive Dissonance.

Women Covering Their Heads Is Traditional, But Now We're Seeing More And More Women Covering Themselves From Head To Toe. This Is Said To Be For Religious Reasons But It's Actually The Conflation Of Religion And Politics - Every Political Movement Has Its Slogans, Flags And Dress.

What I Find Daunting Always Is To Stand On A Stage And Talk To People, Whether They Agree With Me Or Not.