| Salma Yaqoob |
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 Salma was born in Bradford to Pakistani parents but she grew up in Birmingham. Her father had been a teacher in Pakistan but when he came to the UK his qualifications were not accepted and he went to work for the Post Office. Salma went to Shaw Hill Primary school before moving to Kings Heath. At primary school she was a tomboy and wanted to play football. She passed her 11+ and went to Grammar school. It was at school that she began to question local and national issues but found no forum to do this out loud. Initially on leaving school Salma wanted to be a Pilot but was actively discouraged by her family. She finally conceded when she found out girls did not get easily accepted onto pilot courses. She thought about Medicine and took a degree in the Sciences. However, she then took a Psychology degree followed by Counselling and Therapeutic qualifications because she felt this degree would help her to question and explore things like relationships, political cause and effect and such like. Because Salma always wore the headscarf as a visible sign of her Muslim faith, people often had stereotypical views and questioned whether this might be a barrier to her job counselling clients. 9/11 was to change her life. Days after the tragedy she was with her young son when and a man just came up to her and spat on her. As well as being concerned for her son she was angry that everyone walked on by. No-one stopped. She decided she could no longer be passive. She went to an anti-war meeting and having given a speech was asked to join the Stop the War Coalition. She was quickly asked to be its Chairperson; such was the strength of her public speaking. She became involved in campaigning for social justice and constantly challenged stereotypes by, for example, being asked to speak publicly at the Central Mosque in Birmingham, working with them to better engage women. In 2003 she part organised one of the biggest demonstrations in British History. She started a small movement called British Politics at the Crossroads, a multi-faith forum that evolved to become the Respect Party launched in January 2004. She is now its National Vice-Chair and an elected Councillor on Birmingham City Council. Despite death threats to her and her family, Salma is clear she can not give up campaigning for respect for all. |
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