In 2011, Iraqi musician, actor and writer Ahmed Moneka was working as an artist and actor. He studied at Baghdad's Institute of Fine Art and, according to Canada's The Globe And Mail, he was the first black TV presenter in the country. His father, also a well-known comedy actor, was the pioneer.
Moneka went into the "family business". Moneka is part of Iraq's black population, who are of African Zanj heritage, and are historically located in the southern port city of Basra. The origins of their history dates to the 9th century during the time of the Arabic slave trade in the region.
Moneka's descendants come from the coastal Bantu regions of East Africa. One of the interesting aspects of Moneka and his descendants is that they have maintained their Zanj healing rituals and Sufi traditions. Percussion, drums and voice feature in their traditional music.
But back to Moneka's story. In 2011, Moneka helped write and acted in a short black and white drama, The Society , about two gay men who hide their sexuality. This did not go down well with local militias in Baghdad and when he went to Canada in 2015 to screen the film at a festival, Moneka's father told him that he should stay there as a refugee as he had received death threats.
With no English language skills, music was Moneka's way into Toronto's social scene. He found friends in the multi-ethnic Kensington Market and began to perform -- going on to work at the Canadian Opera Company and the Toronto Jazz Festival. Nearly a d.
