This week’s campus celebrity is Urooba Jamal, a fourth year International Relations student, and creator of the blog ‘Under Urooba’s Umbrella.’ Urooba’s blog has garnered quite a bit of attention lately, attracting over 1000 hits on a daily basis. Amongst the surplus of Tumblr blogs, she has successfully managed to carve out a niche for herself by writing about a range of topics that include, but are not limited to, tales of travel, a breakdown of her statement-making fashion ensembles, poetry, and pressing issues facing global social justice. Keep reading to find out more about Urooba and be sure to visit her blog!
1. First of all, tell us about yourself and your blog, ‘Under Urooba’s Umbrella’.
I’m a fourth year student at UBC studying International Relations. I’m Muslim and consider myself a Pakistani-Canadian immigrant-settler, though these identities are constantly in flux. I’m super passionate about social justice issues and anti-oppression, as well as international politics, poetry, subversive literature, and of course, thrift-and-vintage-shopping! ‘Under Urooba’s Umbrella’ very generally chronicles these different interests of mine. Last year, I was blogging about my travels a lot; this semester I’ve been mainly fashion-blogging – with the inclusion of my thoughts on certain social justice issues, of course.
2. What prompted you to start ‘Under Urooba’s Umbrella’? When did you start blogging?
I began my first blog, (also under the title ‘Under Urooba’s Umbrella’) back in 2009 in the eleventh grade, on a blogging platform seldom used now, Blogger. I had just begun reading fashion blogs, and thought, I could do that – and voila! – ‘Under Urooba’s Umbrella’ was born. It started off as solely a fashion blog, a creative outlet for me at the time because I was taking a lot of [Science] courses I really didn’t enjoy. I had immersed myself in the fashion blogosphere and was starting to gain a large following. But then I began my first year at UBC, and in addition to not having as much time, I soon took an interest in Serious and Important Matters of the World, and thus regarded fashion blogging as a frivolous, even petty endeavour. My blogging became very sparse and my following diminished. This summer, though, I switched to Tumblr in order to rekindle my blogging desires through a platform that I feel has much more interactivity, and have been posting original content on it since then. I also really did miss fashion blogging, and that’s why I’ve started it up again, with the fusion, though, of the thoughts on my mind of issues I’m currently thinking about.
3. Tell me about your personal clothing style. If you had to pick one look, what would it be?
This is a really tough question, for a maximalist such as myself! ‘Maximalist’ – the antithesis to minimalism – is how I would describe my personal style. As such, choosing one look is rather difficult! I’ve been thrifting and shopping at vintage stores since high school and can attest to the fact that at least 90% of my wardrobe is from these places. I’m attracted to anything really unique, odd, colourful, or shiny. Hot pink and neon orange trench coat? Love it! Blue-metallic-sequined, shoulder-padded leotard? Gimmie! Red cheetah-print floor length dress? I want it! (All of these items exist in my closet, by the way).
4. Who is your go-to style inspiration?
Honestly, I’m most inspired by the chaos inside a thrift store – the possibilities are what ignite me. Though I can say that I definitely take inspiration from these incredible women: M.I.A. (the British artist), Frida Kahlo (the late, iconic Mexican painter), Yuna (an up-and-coming Malaysian singer), and Claudia Kishi (a fictional, Japanese-American from the 90’s tween book series The Baby-sitter’s Club, which I devoured as a young’n).
5. When and how did you become interested in feminist theory?
I suppose in first year, when I took Sociology 100, and began analyzing things from a gendered perspective for the very first time. Though I’ve learned the most just by reading stuff on my own. So while university has given me critical thinking skills I’ve definitely learned my radical politics outside the classroom, as one does.
6. Who is your feminist icon, your personal hero?
I don’t know if I can pinpoint one person per se, but again, I seek inspiration from multiple people: Audre Lorde (who made me realize that I was not alone in feeling constrained and dehumanized by mainstream, white liberal feminism – and who really introduced me to the concept and significance of intersectionality), Harsha Walia (a local activist and community organizer whose book I’m currently reading now, “Undoing Border Imperialism”), Professor Benita Bunjun (whose class, GRSJ 305, I am currently taking and who really embodies persistent engagement with social justice issues both on and off campus), among countless others…
7. Tell us about your recent adventure in Singapore. What was your most memorable experience?
Last semester, I had the incredible opportunity to go to Singapore through the UBC Arts Co-op program, as a research assistant at the Asia Research Institute, at the National University of SIngapore. I was helping out on two projects related to temporary foreign workers and migrant studies. One, on Bangladeshi construction workers in Singapore; the other, on Indonesian domestic workers in Singapore. My favourite part as an intern, hands down, was getting the opportunity to do field work. You can read as much as you can about certain issues, but it isn’t the same as hearing on-the-ground, personal perspectives. And of course, I had many life-changing travelling experiences in Southeast Asia! Among my favourites, exploring the ancient temples at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and bathing elephants at a rescue and rehab center for elephants, in Northern Thailand!
How Urooba conquered Singaporean heat: turbans!
8. What are some of the things you find challenging and rewarding about blogging?
Challenging: being consistent with it! And some days I simply have writer’s block. Rewarding: having a platform for my ideas and creativity, and of course all of the positive feedback!
9. What doors has blogging opened for you?
My earlier blog connected me to many similar bloggers, and I was invited to participate in an online event that occurred a couple of times, called Hijabi Fashion Week. It was a week-long online fashion exhibit that showcased how some of us fashion bloggers incorporate our personal style into wearing hijab. As a teenager, this niche event was a really important occurrence, as I had little knowledge of how just many diverse Muslim women were interested in fashion/personal style. This also helped my blog gain more exposure, and I received lots of fun freebies as well!
Blogging also led me to write for an online magazine, back in first year, when I was approached by the editor. I’ve also conducted a workshop on blogging, for an event on civic engagement amongst Muslim youth in Canada, which led me to take part in a national project called The Common Ground Project. The Common Ground Project, under the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, connected me to four other individuals from diverse backgrounds here in Vancouver, and we planned and facilitated a night of dinner and dialogue centered around the question “What kind of world would we like to create?” More recently, I’ve been approached to speak at an upcoming conference centered around intersectionality.
10. Are you involved in any other projects or clubs?
As a fourth year who was away last semester, and who has realized that she needs to focus on school, my involvement right now is pretty minimal. I’m on the social media team for the “I Am a Feminist Day” campaign (happening March 10th!), and have recently joined the undergraduate RAGA (Race, Autobiography, Gender and Age) network (and where there is a very cool conference coming up on May 5th, “Racialized Students’ Resistance!”). In the past I’ve done a number of things from the Ubyssey’s investigative journalism team, to the Pakistan Students’ Association, and for two years, my biggest on-campus involvement, as a Residence Advisor at Place Vanier.
11. If someone were interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest?
Think about how you will uniquely contribute to the topic you wish to blog about. How will you make it engaging? How will you build your network? And be consistent at it! It’s an informal and relatively accessible platform, so you can only continue to grow the more you do it. It’s also fun to read your old posts as a means of tracking progress.
12. What do you hope to see happen in the coming year?
With myself? Land a really cool summer job and hopefully do some more travelling! And that my 5th and final year will be memorable.
Stay connected with what Urooba is upto by reading her blog, following her on Twitter and on Instagram!