I wish someone told me not to get off the car when stopped by a cop as a sign of respect for them.
I wish someone told me not to pick up random kids in the park and kiss them on the cheeks like we do on Morocco without being considered psychos.
In this stunning work of historical fiction, Laila Lalami brings us the imagined memoirs of the first black explorer of Americaa Moroccan slave whose testimony was left out of the official record.
Hakim emigrated to the United States in 1994, Hakim worked as a dish washer and waiter while learning English, he then studies political sciences at UNCC and fire sciences at the Columbia Southern University. Hakim worked as an operations manager for Loomis Fargo Armored Services in Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA after which he decided to join the fire service as a firefighter with Dekalb County Fire and Rescue in GA and graduated from the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Hakim moved to Arizona in 2003 where he worked as a fire inspector/investigator and was a member of the Maricopa County Arson Investigation Task force.
Hakim currently is an Acting Captain with the fire department. He is also an elected member of the executive board of the International Association of Firefighters. Hakim has pursed many educational and training opportunities in the field of Aircraft Crash Rescue, Hazardous Materials and fire service management through the National Fire Academy.