My destiny is in my hands.

D My name is Mohamed. I am a lawyer, practicing in the area of civil lit gation, more specifically personal injuries.
My story is not about bragging or gassing up myself but rather a story of Canadian Immigrant success. I see myself as a successful lawyer having started from ground zero without any form of support from any source, institutional or otherwise.

I have succeeded because I believed in myself, and refused to accept others' judgment on me. I believed in myself on two folds: firstly, I have had confidence in my personal ability to be a capable a lawyer – sharp, tough and competitive. Secondly, I have had confidence in my community's ability to support my practice, as long as, I met their expectation. To that end, I have received an overwhelming support from my community – "the Somali Community in Toronto" who are by and large the client base of my firm.

I was born in a remote town in the Northern part of Kenya near the border of Somalia. My experience in Kenya has prepared me to navigate through the challenges of the Canadian experience. As Somali in Kenya, discrimination and exclusion was the order of the day at every societal level, in addition to horrible atrocities meted out to Somali Kenyans as a collective punishment. As such, the level of abuse and discrimination that I have survived while in Kenya is mind boggling. The Canadian version of discrimination and exclusion I have experienced was more covert and beneath the veil, in many instance. As such, I developed a "will power" that stubbornly ignored or walked over the few ignorant and misguided individuals who otherwise were bent to abuse their institutional power of this great nation – known as Canada by creating unwritten and unauthorized exclusionary policies.

My journey to be a lawyer and a successful business man was not on a silver plate. It was tough and rough which required a great deal of endurance, as well as, a "thick skin". For example, I remember meeting with one of my instructors in law school, barely three days there. I will forego to mention her name as she may not be accorded the right to respond. She called me into her office, and told me on my face that she believed I was not capable to complete the program in three years. She recommended that I should switch to part-time program which will take six years. She was convinced that my undergrad academic performance was irrelevant as law school was a "no go zone" for those who spoke English with an immigrant "accent". I was not enraged but rather I sympathized with her as she was out of touch with the "Canadian reality"

I have had a taste of the "Canadian reality" the day I came to Canada on December 6, 1989 at about 5 pm. I joined a very long line. I was tired. My eyes were red from many nights of sleepless. I was afraid. Very scared indeed. I am not sure of what I feared. Certainly the worries of the unknown and the fact that my home, my history, my identity, everything I stood for was behind me at many miles away and I was confronted with the beginning of a new reality full of unknown. My afro-hair was uncombed and unkept. I was young in my twenties with high school Diploma. A Canadian immigration officer at the airport was going by checking passports. She took my past and looked at me. She asked, "why are your eyes red". I replied – "I did not sleep for many nights". She asked me to follow her into a room. She pointed to a sofa seat in the room – and said, if you do not mind sleep here. This line is too long and will take many hours to finish. I will wake you up later when I finish interviewing these potential claimants. I thanked her and slept. She came back at 11:30 – woke me up – with a cup of coffee and a donat in her hand and gave it to me. Many may see this as small gesture of kindness. At that moment, nothing was more valuable to me than the kindness of that immigration officer, whom I do not know her name to this date. Equally important was the perception that was left in my psychic about Canadians as people of compassion and kindness – and of course – we are a people of compassion and kindness - nothing has changed in my psychic since that day.

Also, I know that everything is not a bed of roses – far from it. Hard work, endurance and self confidence are the ticket to success in this country. I have used the word self-confidence in this piece repeatedly – and I so do intentionally for without self confidence, you would easily buckle down to your knees. While the Somali community was the back bone of my client base, many from the same community have undermined my practice as they propagated the notion that a Somali lawyer was not good enough to deliver justice for them. In other words, they judged me based on my ethnicity and ability. For those from my own community with a deceased mind – I say – take a deep breath and shower your mind with fresh air. Besides, Canadian justice is not for sale – and ability is not colour based but based on individual talent.
Any time I go to Court – specially Provincial Courts – dressed in suite with brief case in hand – I am being asked by those in Courts or a long Court corridors – "are you an interpreter?". Even my fellow Somalis frequently ask me the same question as others. People who ask me this question have no ill intention at all. It is an innocent expression, nevertheless, it speaks on the expectation the society has about members of the Somali Community. Why would people think I am an interpreter and not a lawyer or detective based on my Somaliness. I am sure people are not used seeing Somali lawyers in Court – and the question that I am asked is asked on the basis of peoples' experience. In another episode, I went to a mediation centre for one of my cases. I went to the receptionist to ask her my room – and she asked me "where is your lawyer?". I did not take this to be personal – nonetheless, it speaks volumes about the social status of my community as people outside the Canadian Professional Institutions despite being in Canada for many years.

I am the only Somali lawyer in private practice in the Province of Ontario, and also in Canada. There are nearly 200,000 Somalis in Canada. Why have Canadian law schools failed to produce Somali lawyers? What has prevented Somalis to study law and become lawyers in this great country? Same goes to Ontario Medical Schools. I am not aware of any Somali medical doctor in Toronto or Ontario for this matter. Why?
I have enjoyed practicing law, more so, in the Superior Court of Ontario. Our Ontario Superior Court judges are remarkable men and women. Very deferential and very knowledgeable, prudent and fairness oriented. I am very proud to be an officer of this Court.

Finally, I must acknowledge the contribution some members of the Somali Community has made to the growth and success of my law firm. Special thanks to Suad Aimad, Shukri Jama, Nakrumah, Batula Shiekh, Mohamed Dahir, Musa Kulow, Brother Said, Hassan Karate. Many have tried to divide us into clans and sub-clans. Many have tried to exploit this perceived differences based on our clan difference, if any, which I expressly deny. I am proud to say that the entire Somali clans have treated me us their own thus I am made to feel that I belong to each clan and thus to all clans. My clients of Somali origin address me as a brother – and yes from the bottom of my heart, I am your brother, each of you, and a son of each of our clans.

The love and respect for my community has given me unmatched self-esteem for I have discovered the value of my community, and hence my identity as one based on solid Somali-Canadian. To be part of the Canadian mosaic is a significant gift that make me feel that my children and I can be anything we so desire to be. This is a rear value – and it is a Canadian value. Our youth must seize this opportunity to be part of the Canadian success as mine which I term to be a Canadian success and an Immigrant success.

Lastly and not the least, I am successful because I have refused to be defined by any one. I am my own man – I am a Somali. I am a Canadian. I am an immigrant. This is how defined myself – thus I have placed my destiny in my own hands.

Mohamed A. Doli is founder of
Doli Professional Corporation
Barrister, Solicitor & Public Notary

Immigrant Post magazine
Photographer; Nicole Hackett