#IStandWithAhmed because I know first-hand what it is like to live in America as a teenager who is all too often perceived and defined as a menace to society simply because of your Arab/Muslim name or background, regardless of your actions, intentions or political persuasions.

#IStandWithAhmed because I know the uncomfortably nervous smiles that form on people’s faces, falling fast into a frown as you introduce yourself as ‘Ahmed’ to a stranger in post 9–11 America.

#IStandWithAhmed because I’ve endured too many “suggestions” over the years that I consider changing my name to “Bob” (yes, Bob) or “Dan”. “If it bothers you,” they tell me. “Do yourself a favor and make your life easier. That way you can stop complaining”

#IStandWithAhmed because when I arrived to Boston in 2002 for undergrad, I often applied to ‘quickie jobs’ — a quick way to make money for BU students by matching them with people needing odd jobs done. I remember calling a lady who wanted her fence painted in Cambridge, a couple in Brighton who wanted help emptying their garage, and many others who at first seemed so relieved to have found someone to do the job, until they asked me towards the end of the conversation — after already agreeing on a price and date — for my name. When I said “Ahmed” in my American accent, curiously enough, too many times, they would pause, speak to their partner, then return to the phone and abruptly tell me the job had been filled.

#IStandWithAhmed because when I once tried to access my University building in grad school I was stopped by a black security guard who upon seeing my ID and reading “Ahmed” called the campus police and refused to let me into the building because I was “suspicious.”

#IStandWithAhmed because I know what it is like for people like Ahmed Mustafa. I know the self-doubt and self-hate that these racist and xenophobic perceptions can trigger in the mind of a creative kid just trying to fit in.

For all these reasons and regrettably, too many more, #IStandWithAhmed and am so grateful to the millions of Americans standing with Ahmed today because enough is enough, and unknowingly they have given me the best birthday gift ever: The gift of hope that perhaps racism in all its forms, is in fact conquerable.