Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world – Arthur Schopenhauer
In his TEDTalk titled, I am the son of a terrorist, here’s how I chose peace, Zak Ebrahim outlines his experience growing up with a father who taught him to hate. His book, The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice takes a deeper dive into his story of becoming a peace activist. In this Disruptive Conversation, Zak and I explore several powerful lessons he has learned along his journey. He places considerable currency on the need for perseverance. In this conversation, he argues that it is an important part of the journey in learning to have a conversation with people who do not share your perspective.
In our conversation, he talks about how few of us think about the many ways that extremism affects the families of the extremist. Much emphasis is placed on the family of victims but rarely do we thinking about the children of terrorist and how they are affected when their parents are arrested. For Zak, he found growing up with a father who espoused views of hate to be confusing. He was taught to think that people who did not share these extremist views were evil. In the show, we have a very interesting conversation about the similarities between alt-right movements and extremist Islamic movements.
Zak hopes that his work can one influence how we think about American foreign policy and continues to work as a peace activist.
Links referenced in the podcast:
Follow Zak’s work on his website: http://www.zakebrahim.com/
Zak’s book, , The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1476784809/?tag=teco05-20
Zak’s TEDTalk: The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice: https://www.ted.com/talks/zak_ebrahim_i_am_the_son_of_a_terrorist_here_s_how_i_chose_peace
Nimah Muwakil-Zakuri’s TEDxTalk