Aleenah Ansari
UX Writer
Seattle, WA
Aleenah empowers her community by telling stories that they all deserve to read. As a queer Pakistani Muslim woman, she is used to skimming through news stories in search of words like “terrorist” or “Pakistani” associated with people who looked like her, always hoping that she wouldn’t find them. News stories about South Asian people often focus on poverty in developing nations or bombings perpetrated by brown individuals. Aleenah feels the way that others see her is informed by stereotypes and biases because the media associates her religion with terrorism and 9/11. Though Aleenah tries to combat these stereotypes every day by approaching every relationship with kindness and empathy, her work can’t necessarily undo the thousands of stories that have shaped the way that people see her.