What's the inspo behind The Newcomers merch?
There were newcomers before us. And there will be newcomers after us.
Hi,
How’s your day going? We finally got the sort of snow that stays on the ground for more than two hours. So I guess I can finally say “Winter is here.”
In today’s newsletter: I share the inspiration behind our merch design
Plus: Kundan Joshi of AI Labb talks about failures as an opportunity to reveal our blind spots.
Also: Do you know what it’s like to be born without status? Without a piece of identity that identifies a specific place as home.
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You can find the online version of this newsletter here.
What’s the inspiration behind The Newcomers merch?
The merch design draws from the universality of the immigrant experience, a story as old as humanity. Humans have always moved across the world for various reasons.
Some due to persecution. Some simply because they wanted change. Some because they were dreamers and sought an environment where they could achieve their dreams.
And as the world seems to rail against this Paleolithic human behaviour, I think it’s important to remember that there were newcomers before us. And there will be newcomers after us.
So what’s our role in all of this? Offer a hand. Make the transition less brutal, the welcome more genuine, and the integration more dignified.
Support us if you can. Buy a merch. Share the link with someone. Thank you to everyone who’s supported us so far.
To purchase, visit HERE.
P.S: This will hopefully be the first of many limited merch runs. Which means that most of the designs you see today won’t come back with the next run.
Failures reveal your blind spots
Kundan Joshi is the sort of guy you want to talk to again and again.
And while there’s so much to learn from his episode, I think the biggest takeaway for me was on failure. As a society, failure is usually seen as a bad thing.
Which means that we’ve also come to associate it with some terrible debilitating emotions. Well, not Kundan.
For him, he thinks it reveals blind spots you often can’t see any other way. Failure is often a chance to face up the fact that there are things you don’t know you don’t know.
And learning them allows you to grow.
Listen to my full conversation with Kundan⤵
Rim Aoude’s kids where the first in three generations to born with citizenship
For most of us, we take for granted what it means to be born with a piece of identity that grounds us. Something that says “I’m Nigerian.” Or “I’m Canadian.”
Not for Rim Aoude. Her granddad left Palestine. Her parents were born in Lebanon as refugees. She was then born in UAE with refugee documents.
And so when her kids were born as Canadian citizens, it was a big deal in her family.
Listen to my full conversation with Rim⤵
What am I excited about?
Ehis Akhetuamhen’s episode on The Thriving Immigrant Podcast. Ehis shares how he landed roles at Google, KPMG, and Goldman Sachs.
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