Real Talk on Race: Consequences of exclusion

Real Talk on Raceis CBC Montreal's special series exploring personal conversations and experiences around race in the city.

Mahad Al Mustaqim was 15 when he was arrested for the first time.

As a teenager, the Somali-Montrealerfelt excluded by Quebec society, and said hefelthe could not overcome the challenges of poverty and discrimination.

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Al Mustaqim and his nine siblings were raised by a single mother in Pierrefonds. He appliedto multiple jobsto help support his family, but was repeatedly turned down for interviews.

"Once there was a gas station I applied to and when I called back he told me 'Some black dudes came and robbed the store' so I felt like I was kind of targeted,"Al Mustaqimtold CBC's Homerun.

"At the moment it really hurt meI was young."

'The consequences are hard'

Being young and vulnerable, AlMustaqim said he fell under the spell of street gangs. He spent most of his youth in and out of jail.

"My first goal was to help my mother but you know it's a dirty game," AlMustaqim said. "It's easy money and the consequences are hard."

He was arrested three times and while serving prison time in Ottawa, he realized he had to turn his life around and be a role model to his siblings.

"I was talking a lot to my mother and she started talking to me and I started listening to her because I had no nobody."

From gangs to youth worker

Al Mustaqim said many young people like him have been driven towardsillegal activities because they felt excluded by Quebec society.

He nowworks with youth because of his experiences growing up as animmigrant that was not well integrated or accepted.

"People from theoutside would never understand, it's only when you live inside thatyou see that," AlMustaqim said.

AlMustaqim focuses on preventingteenagers from being lured into street gangs, who he says prey on the vulnerable. He gives conferences in schools and even goes to homes by request of the parents who are worried about their children.

"It's a progressive work. You put a seed in the heart and you hope the seed grows in the heart."