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About Me — Safir Boukhalfa
Founder, Writer, DEI Expert, Business Coach, Polyglot, Extra And More!
Afro-European and Back Again
I was born in France, but life at home was distinctly Algerian. As an Amazigh person of color, Darja was the language of my family, the way we communicated and connected.
Every time I stepped outside, I was in France, but inside, I was in Algeria.
That constant back and forth between worlds felt natural to me, even as I juggled multiple layers of identity — queer, neurodivergent, Muslim. It shaped who I am today — a person who moves fluidly through different spaces without feeling the need to compromise any part of myself.
At school, I quickly picked up French and English, almost as if it were expected. Or maybe even beyond what was expected as other students struggled so much with the English part. But it wasn’t about fitting in — it was about gaining the tools to navigate the wider world, while still honoring my roots.
The Silence of Malaga
When I moved to Malaga (Spain) for my studies, my experience took an interesting turn. For the first four months, I barely spoke. It wasn’t a language barrier actually — I later came to understand that my autism (that I was so far…