An Interview With Edward Sylvan
…I wanted to take the shame out of questioning and asking for our rights, asking for what we feel we deserve in our families, business or at home. Eradicating the shame when a woman is abused, eradicating the shame when she is asking for her rights, and eradicating the shame in our minds. We are worthy and deserving!
Remember we give birth to future generations. So, a happy empowered mother raises confident and healthier children.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Suzan Kanoo.
Suzan “Suzy” Kanoo is a Bahraini CEO, activist and advocate for change. Her book, Hear Us Speak, shares letters from Arab women about their experiences facing deeply entrenched cultural sexism and human rights abuse. A graduate of the Harvard Business School, Suzy has been named one of the most successful women business leaders in Bahrain.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was an Arab Muslim girl in an American school in Bahrain from elementary school until high school graduation. I always grew up between two cultures, of course, my Arab Muslim side was the dominant side. I also saw much beauty, independence and inspiration from the American side.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
My hobby was reading, a beautiful escape for me, I would read day and night. I would read everything in my sight: history, biographies, thrillers, even romance. I learned from all books and found something meaningful and special in all books; so I didn’t have one favorite. However, later in life, I found The Forty Rules of Love by Elie Shafik to be one of my favorite books.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
An interesting mistake I made was when I wrote a piece of poetry called, “A letter to my child” and many were moved by it. I subsequently received a call from a British label telling me they wanted to make my poem a song but that they didn’t have money to buy the rights. I met them and liked their altruistic approach to music and songs with meaning. I asked for nothing, the album became one of the top albums in Asia with more than 8 million views! I am truly happy about their success and that I was a part of it. This definitely did not show my prudent business side. The song is called “Awaken” by Maher Zain.
Even though I’m a pure businesswoman, I was always intrigued by the literary world. I enjoyed writing; however, my father did not encourage me to write. He believed in the separation of Business and writing. After he read a piece of mine in the local newspaper and saw the success of the song, however, he was so proud. This opened the door to the writing of my book.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
Hear Us Speak: Letters From Arab Women was written with respect and love for all women. The aim is to create social impact and to encourage discussion openly about issues Arab women face daily.
The discussion of thought and opinions are important and pertinent for our independence and happiness. The world is changing, hence, our lifestyle and thoughts are changing. When women become financially independent their thoughts become their own.
I wanted to take the shame out of questioning and asking for our rights, asking for what we feel we deserve in our families, business or at home. Eradicating the shame when a woman is abused, eradicating the shame when she is asking for her rights, and eradicating the shame in our minds. We are worthy and deserving!
Remember we give birth to future generations. So, a happy empowered mother raises confident and healthier children.
Whilst interviewing these beautiful women, I was in awe of their strength. They have gone through pain, abuse, and yet most have risen through these horrendous experiences after forgiving, taking out their anger, and moving on. They chose to forgive and move on to help others overcome. I found that moving, to say the least.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
Frankly, all the stories were interesting to me. All the women I met fascinated me as I sat back wanting their voices to be heard. One story out of the many worth mentioning comes from my interview with ‘The Bahraini Journalist’ in my book. I didn’t realize I was tearing while she was telling me about her trauma and abuse. She stopped and held my wrist with a smile and said, “Suzy, look at me now, I’m fine. I’m in a better place and I carry no more anger.” She said she felt blessed that she was independent and that she had the ability of raising her two daughters. She had so much gratitude to all the individuals that helped her.
This attitude wasn’t always prevalent with all the women, but I was shocked at the strength of these women who chose to move on and to help others. They are anonymous to the world, but not to me nor to their children.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
An issue I didn’t even know about, even if I was living in this part of the world, was that mothers were unable to give citizenship to their children. Citizenship is only given by fathers. In this day and age, how can it be accepted that a mother is not allowed to grant citizenship to her children? Most of the Arab world had reservations against this U.N. Article, CEDAW. So, if a female citizen marries a man from another country and has children, the children will not be granted her citizenship. However, a man who is a citizen and marries a foreign woman can automatically grant their children citizenship.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Whenever we tell the stories of women who are suffering from abuse and a lack of rights, we impact people by empowering them to speak about these issues, and we help victims by bringing the issues to light. In telling the stories it tells, my book is empowering women everywhere.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
All of society needs to rally behind changing these citizenship laws — for mothers to have a right to grant citizenship to their children; and to amend other laws to protect and empower women in the Arab world. In some cases, there is weak implementation of the present laws.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
To me, leadership is about inspiring others, and oftentimes from the shadows. The women in my book are all leaders to me, as they share their stories to help others without needing to spread their names in the process. Leadership is also about supporting those who feel voiceless, especially those who are different from you.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
There are 5 things that I would have liked to hear more:
First, do not entrust any aspect of your future to anybody else, even family members — and always ask the questions that will prevent this. In my book, I tell the story of a CEO whose family always told her to follow her brothers’ lead and trust them. Her brothers wound up taking control of the family wealth and leaving her with a disproportionately small share.
Second, women: never accept anything less than you deserve. The same example applies, as do so many examples of women agreeing to dissatisfying jobs, marriages and other major situations because they do not fully realize that they have a choice.
Third, believe in yourself. Always. This applies especially to women. Far too many women I have met have succumbed to society’s message that they are worthless than men and are less capable. Do not listen to that message: listen to your gut instinct telling you how much you are capable of.
Fourth, be financially independent. Anyone who does not feel financially independent can feel trapped at times, and limited in what they can do. Having your own money leads to more of your own freedom. I’m grateful to be in a position where I can make my own decisions with my own money, whether it be funding new passion projects or donating to causes that speak to me.
Fifth, take time to learn about different cultures. This is for everyone. Ignorance itself can lead to prejudices and racism. When it comes to the Arab world I’m from, many people still confuse it with the Taliban, simply because they do not know which countries are actually Arab; and they have nothing to do with the Taliban. In another example, many countries outside of the U.S. have skewed views of it and do not realize how diverse it really is.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A quote one of the women said to me always stays with me. “God has given us many keys, it is up to us to decide which doors to open.”
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would be honored to sit down and have a private breakfast with Oprah Winfrey!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Readers can find Hear Us Speak: Letters From Arab Women on Amazon. More about me and my work can also be found on SuzyKanoo.com; Instagram @hear.us.speak; Facebook @suzankanoo; and Twitter @hear_us_speak.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.
In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.
Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.
With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.
At Sycamore Entertainment he specializes in print and advertising financing, marketing, acquisition and worldwide distribution of quality feature-length motion pictures, and is concerned with acquiring, producing and promoting films about equality, diversity and other thought provoking subject matter which will also include nonviolent storytelling.
Also in 2020, Sylvan launched SEGI TV, a free OTT streaming network built on the pillars of equality, sustainability and community which is scheduled to reach 100 million U.S household televisions and 200 million mobile devices across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV and others.
As Executive Producer he currently has several projects in production including The Trials of Eroy Brown, a story about the prison system and how it operated in Texas, based on the best-selling book, as well as a documentary called The Making of Roll Bounce, about the 2005 coming of age film which starred rapper Bow Wow and portrays roller skating culture in 1970’s Chicago.
He sits on the Board of Directors of Uplay Canada, (United Public Leadership Academy for Youth), which prepares youth to be citizen leaders and provides opportunities for Canadian high school basketball players to advance to Division 1 schools as well as the NBA.
A former competitive go kart racer with Checkered Flag Racing Ltd, he also enjoys traveling to exotic locales. Sylvan resides in Vancouver and has two adult daughters.
Sylvan has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and has been seen on Fox Business News, CBS and NBC. Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Suzan Kanoo Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.