‘The first day I wore my hijab into school, my gym teacher gave me a zero and made me sit on the bench.’

Woodbury

“I’m an Asian Muslim woman, a proud mom of six kids. My oldest just graduated from medical school and got engaged. My parents are from Pakistan. l was born in Queens, but we moved upstate to a rural area where there were not only no Muslims, but there were also no minorities.

“I got more involved in my religion probably when I was in the 10th or 11th grade. At the time, the Bosnia-Herzegovina war was going on. I started to learn about that war, to understand what Islam meant, and began wearing my head covering. You usually don’t start until you reach maturity. My parents were religious, but my mom didn’t wear the hijab. She was very supportive when I started wearing it, but she didn’t wear it.

“The first day I wore my hijab into school, my gym teacher gave me a zero and made me sit on the bench. She said, ‘You can’t play with that thing on.’ I loved my school, and all of the sudden I was traumatized. Needless to say, I had no one to advocate for me. I didn’t want to tell my parents. They had a language barrier, so I knew they couldn’t advocate for me, and I couldn’t advocate for me. I wish I was the type of person who could say, I’m going to go to the principal or I’m going to start a petition. Instead, I just took it off. The following year, in 12th grade, I had the courage to put it back on; it took me a whole year. I didn’t have that gym teacher anymore so it was easier.

“I think I realized I wanted to be able to organize, I wanted to be able to create awareness about my religion, my community, and help marginalized people because of what I went through. It wasn’t just that day, it was continuous. That was a pivotal moment in my life where I realized what I wanted to do, and it was to normalize different marginalized communities so they don’t feel like they’re second-class citizens or they don’t feel like they don’t belong. We all belong here.

‘I saw changes happening. You could see the needle shifting where you could help your community become normalized, you could celebrate diversity within the community.’

“I ended up going to Hofstra University for my bachelor’s and master’s. I got married to someone from Long Island, so I just stayed after college, first in Valley Stream, now I live in Woodbury. I got my master’s in education and was a biology teacher. I taught for one year, then I got pregnant.

“I had babies for a while. When I finally thought I was going back after my daughter was in pre-K, I got involved with a couple of campaigns for local politicians. I was ready to go, finally ready to do something and just about to start my doctorate program. I met some people in government and they said, Why don’t you try working here part time? I ended up working for the town clerk of Hempstead two days a week, and just fell in love with it.

“I saw changes happening. You could see the needle shifting where you could help your community become normalized, you could celebrate diversity within the community. I fell in love with it right away. Once I started working full time for [Nassau] County Executive Laura Curran, I saw there was a big disparity within the Asian community on Long Island.

“There’s no infrastructure for that community. People just believe all Asians are OK, they’re well off, they don’t need services, and that’s not the case. I saw it over and over again in government; when you’re talking about minorities, when you’re allocating resources, the Asian community is not included. When I was looking for community groups, there were none, and that’s when I realized I wanted to create some sort of organization that does research on the AAPI [Asian American Pacific Islander] community.

“When Laura Curran lost the election, I pivoted. I think it was the next day. I wanted to create an organization that operates on its own. I talked to a lot of people and eventually came up with the Asian American Institute for Research and Engagement. We work with different universities, different organizations; we’re almost like an umbrella organization. We use research as our basis; the numbers are telling our story.

‘The American population doesn’t even have the basics about what countries Asians are from, what languages they speak … You’re dealing with the fastest-growing population in America.’

“Anti-Asian discrimination has always been there over time in our history; it’s just amplified. It happened on September 11 with the Muslim community, actually the entire South Asian community. The same thing happened with the COVID pandemic. The East Asian community was attacked, not just the Chinese community. It stems from a lack of awareness, from comments that were made at the time. People were afraid.

“Our survey showed 68 percent of Asians felt some sort of discrimination at some point. That’s a huge number. If 68 percent of your population is feeling uncomfortable, that they don’t belong, that they fear discrimination, that’s a problem. We need to figure out solutions.

“The American population doesn’t even have the basics about what countries Asians are from, what languages they speak. Those are the things we have to educate our communities about. You’re dealing with the fastest-growing population in America, but no one really understands the population.

“Last year, we fielded a project on anti-Asian hate and Asian attitudes toward it. Now we’re working on a program to integrate Asian American history into mainstream classes. For example, when you’re talking about American history you can mention Asian American people who have influenced the civil rights movement or talk about the Chinese railroad workers. You can talk about Islam and how it’s affected algebra or chemistry, or even just the fact that the cap and gown originated from Muslims. All these things should be in our curriculum; it would solve so many problems.

“This summer, we want to focus on language access, because our poll showed language was a barrier. People can speak English, but they’re not proficient, and that makes a big difference. For the Asian immigrant population, even if they’re educated, they have a certain level of comprehension.

“On Long Island, we want to prove that there is this language proficiency issue and that it’s affecting services from health care, schools, the government. We don’t want it that every time you go to the doctor or your child’s school, your child is translating for you. That happens a lot. We want to be the voice of Asians on Long Island.

Interviewed by Barbara Schuler

‘I call it the Rocky mentality. You never give up. Even when you get knocked down, you get back up.’

Woodbury

“From a very young age, I struggled pretty badly with a learning disability. I think that’s what really drove me to become a high school physical education and health and sports medicine teacher, because I wanted students to have an experience that I never got, especially a student that struggled. My parents were extremely supportive.

“There weren’t services like there are now for kids when I was young. My parents did the best they could, and in a last-ditch effort they showed me the film ‘Rocky’ when I was about 8. They wanted to show me a film that really inspired them, and they told me we hope that it has the same effect on you. It changed my life forever. From that moment moving forward, it’s like a switch went on, and everything that I’ve done from that moment on has been different from how I was handling things prior.

“My struggles definitely continued, but I learned how to handle it. I learned how to fight through it. I call it the Rocky mentality. You never give up. Even when you get knocked down, you get back up. And things start to come a little bit easier for you the more you push. That’s the main takeaway that I got from the movie. I’ve adapted that into everything that I do.

“I’m 45 years old, the father of two wonderful daughters and [have] a beautiful wife, and I continue to take that same approach. But about eight years ago, my father, who was my hero, got cancer, and it was very difficult watching him struggle and become decimated with such a terrible disease. He asked me to do him one favor, to run the ‘Rocky’ steps for him. It was always something we wanted to do together as father-son, but we never had the opportunity. About 48 hours after that conversation, he passed away.

“About six months later, my mom also got diagnosed with stage four brain cancer. It was a really tough double whammy. I wound up losing her about a year after my dad. It was really difficult. There were a few months where I really struggled. But I woke up one morning, and it was as if the switch went back on. I remembered the promise that I made to my dad to run those steps. I drove to Philadelphia and got there at 11 p.m. in the middle of February. It was freezing.”

A lot of times people go through tough times in life, and it’s very important to realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it does take a lot of work and effort to get there.

“It was just me and the 72 stone steps leading up to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I made this emotional climb all by myself, and when I got to the top, I got very emotional thinking back to everything I just went through with my mom and my dad. And literally within minutes, I get hit, like as if by a bolt of lightning, with the idea to come up with a series called ‘Fight Story.’

“Everyone that’s been impacted by these ‘Rocky’ movies. There’s millions of people worldwide like me that have been impacted by these films. And I wanted to make a series that highlights individuals that overcame tremendous adversity because they were inspired by Sylvester Stallone’s legendary films.

“All of the stories are super inspiring, with powerful positive messaging. We’ve filmed all three episodes. The first one is streaming now, currently on seven different platforms worldwide, including Amazon. I’m doing a premiere in July in Bellmore, and I’ll probably have the third one the following summer.

“It’s been an amazing process telling incredible stories of hope and determination. I think that the world really needs something like this right now. In addition to the film, I have a full ‘Fight Story’ merchandise line, with 100 percent of the profits going towards children with autism because of the issues I faced, and I work with these children every day. When you see those kids look up to you and smile, it’s a life changer. It’s worth more than any dollar amount in the world.

“My number-one goal is to honor my family. Goal number two would be to eventually get all of my messages out there that I’ve done with ‘Fight Story.’ I would love for Mr. Stallone, at some point. to be able to hear, you know, what we’ve accomplished. I think back on my 8-year-old self and would want to tell him that there’s hope.

“A lot of times people go through tough times in life, and it’s very important to realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it does take a lot of work and effort to get there. That’s the key. You can’t just roll over and give up. You have to keep going.”

Interviewed by Liza Burby

‘We fit like a puzzle piece together. If I’m making dough, she’s stuffing. If I’m wrapping, she’s packing up.’

Woodbury

“When we were younger, we would always bake together. She would stay over my house and wake up in the middle of the night and ask to bake. She’s married to my brother now, and I’ve known her since I was 14, so we’re practically sisters.

“We always joked about opening a bakery together, but we never thought it would actually happen. I had this cookie recipe I was working on, and she said, ‘Everyone loves your cookies, so let’s start a cookie business.’

“During the pandemic, we finally did it. We baked out of our houses. We thought just our friends and family would enjoy it, and that would be it. We made an Instagram and suddenly, our social media blew up. People all over Long Island were reaching out, so we packed up the car and delivered cookies across the Island.

“We’re very empowered by female-run companies, and so we reached out to Kris Jenner. Us, just two girls from Long Island, opened our own business and thought, ‘Who’s a better role model than Kris Jenner?’ We sent her some cookies and saw that she posted them on Twitter. It was amazing. This was meant for us.

“It’s so empowering to own our own business and be our own boss. We were both mainly raised by strong women. In cooking and bakeries, it’s usually male-dominated, so showing other women, especially younger women, that this is possible is so important to us. It’s a family business.

“We are very grateful for our families because they really help a lot; it definitely takes a village. It’s a blessing to work with each other. We’ve been best friends since forever. There are times when we can be in the kitchen for 8-10 hours, and if something goes wrong, we’ll yell at each other, but then we keep going.

“We’re basically sisters. We fit like a puzzle piece together. If I’m making dough, she’s stuffing. If I’m wrapping, she’s packing up. The first time we ever went to our commercial kitchen, we turned the industrial mixer on and there was a flour explosion. The entire kitchen was white – it looked like it snowed. I was covered. We looked at each other and just laughed. It was hysterical. That is one of the best memories I have of us working together. We always smell like cookies.

We’re not doctors, we’re not nurses, so we wanted to make people happy by baking, and it’s something we love.

“This was meant for us. This was during a time when everyone was scared to be near each other. Everyone was so distant, and we missed our friends and family. Our basis, our roots for this, was making people smile when it was hard to be humans and be interactive and social.

“We always tried to give back during all of this, even with food bloggers, we just wanted to give back. If anybody we knew was sick, we would drop cookies at their house or we donated to hospitals.

“Cookies gave people comfort and made them feel better, and that was a very big drive for us. We’re not doctors, we’re not nurses, so we wanted to make people happy by baking, and it’s something we love.

“We love working with organizations, especially ones on Long Island, since we’re both originally from Plainview, and these are our roots. We grew up here. We have worked with a list of organizations already, and to just name a few, Jewish Pavilion, Shalom at Home, Cookie Chain, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, Better Together.”

‘I have learned not to waste time because the road in front of me is shorter than the road in back of me.’

Woodbury

“The Year of Living Dangerously is a movie that is on my top 50 list. However, I would call 2020 the year of hitting a brick wall. I have lived in a nursing and rehabilitation facility for six years because I had a blood infection and lost the use of my right arm below the elbow. We have been locked down for one year which means I couldn’t leave my floor or go outside.

“Many people I socialized with died. A few weeks ago, I tested positive for COVID. I have had no symptoms, but because it happened after all this time, I feel like the universe is somehow punishing me. I wasn’t afraid I would get it at this point, so I was shocked. Being away from my family and friends has affected my mental health in strange ways. I revisited things from the past that I hadn’t thought about for a long time. This quarantine-within-a-quarantine has given me a heightened sense of failure in running my life.

“Through being in this type of facility I have learned not to waste time because the road in front of me is shorter than the road in back of me. Before there was always time; soon you blink your eyes and years are gone. I have an aptitude for language and I always imagined that I could have learned Arabic or Farsi and worked for the government. I’m hoping it’s not too late to learn a second language and help somebody in that way. I still feel like I have something to contribute.

I have experienced very dedicated nurses and physical therapists that will discuss their lives with me. It helps me remember that the world is still turning, even though the search for a freer life came to a halt this year.

“One day I would like to join a book club or volunteer to teach people how to read. I am mentally and physically capable of doing well in a subsidized apartment with minimal help from an aide. I’d love to do the mundane things that people feel are drudgery, like making my bed and doing laundry. I try to remain optimistic. I do puzzles, crafts and decorating for holidays. When everyone else here tended to gain weight this year, I lost it! It feels good.

“I have experienced very dedicated nurses and physical therapists that will discuss their lives with me. It helps me remember that the world is still turning, even though the search for a freer life came to a halt this year. For now, there is still this persistent and constant feeling of unreality, sort of an existence one would see on ‘The Twilight Zone.’”