Image copyright Chris Saunders 
Magid made rather an impression as he got here for his very first day at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Using a baseball cap and a T-shirt bearing an anti-fascist motto, the freshly chosen MEP stated he was asked to leave the structure .
Who is Mr Magid and what barriers has the 30-year-old Somali refugee from Sheffield get rid of to wind up as a Green Party MEP?
“I understand I’m noticeably various. I do not have the benefit to conceal my identity. I’m BLACK &&my name is Magid. I do not mean to attempt fit in. Get utilized to it!”
This was Mr Magid’s action to being asked to leave the European Parliament structure by somebody he stated he thought to be an authorities.
While the European Parliament stated no member of personnel was included, Mr Magid – among 6 MEPs for Yorkshire and the Humber – stated the occurrence “states a lot about what individuals believe the stereotyped political leader is suggested to appear like”.
And it’s difficult to argue he does not have a point – of the brand-new European Parliament’s 751 members, less than a lots are black.
To individuals of Sheffield, where Mr Magid just recently completed a year as the city’s Lord Mayor, his straight talking will have come as not a surprise.
Image copyright Mark Howe/Sheffield City Council From his appealing design – Dr Martens and baseball caps combined with the 18-carat gold chain of workplace – to his back story – the Somali refugee who pertained to the UK aged 5 – he was absolutely nothing like the stereotyped picture of a Lord Mayor.
During his 12 months in workplace he struck the headings time and once again, most significantly for “prohibiting” United States President Donald Trump from Sheffield .
Born in Burao, in northern Somalia, Mr Magid and his household left the war-torn nation in 1994 looking for “a much better life”. After 6 months in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, the household – his mom and 5 older brother or sisters – settled in Burngreave in Sheffield.
He went to Sheffield’s Fir Vale School, where he stated he was “much like your typical kid”, prior to studying marine zoology at the University of Hull.
Mr Magid ran a digital marketing service prior to being chosen as a councillor in 2016, and was selected Lord Mayor in 2015.
Image copyright Family image The function is a ritualistic one, however Mr Magid was identified he would be kept in mind as more than simply a token shaking hands at church fetes.
Asked if he set out to shake things up, he stated his really presence in city government was “extreme to a great deal of individuals”.
But Mr Magid stated he would faster deal with the flak – things were tossed at his main vehicle and he was sent out racist hate mail and death risks – than remain quiet.
“As long as I am making individuals feel something, engage or link, even if that is calling me [names], a minimum of I’m stimulating some interest in the function and individuals are caring,” he stated.
Image copyright Magid His method to the function polarised popular opinion.
The Lord Mayor’s position on Mr Trump triggered some to state they were “ashamed” to confess they were from Sheffield, while others implicated him of abusing his position.
More acerbic remarks were aired in a series of letters to the regional paper, soon after his consultation.
One reader stated he represented “whatever that is incorrect with our when terrific city”, while another stated the function must be “scheduled to an individual of white, English descent”.
Mr Magid easily acknowledges he is “not everybody’s cup of tea”.
“People actually either love me or they dislike me, however in any case they’ve got an enthusiastic viewpoint,” he stated.
Image copyright Magid Speaking in May, Mr Magid stated he keeps a message on his phone from a Somali refugee living in Austria who stated she had actually been influenced by him to stand in her regional elections.
His story likewise reached students at Crocker Farm Elementary in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Classroom assistant Jean Fay stated 2 children, one from Sri Lanka and the other from Cape Verde, had actually hung out investigating his increase.
“The trainees were thrilled that somebody so young like them, somebody who is an immigrant like them, who speaks a various language like them, can be somebody who is chosen by a big group of individuals and can make a distinction worldwide,” she stated.
“Seeing somebody like Magid, who they can associate with, makes them think this is possible.”
Image copyright Jean Fay Closer to house, in Burngreave, the denied part of Sheffield where Magid matured, he has actually been hailed a “hero” by Safiya Saeed. She is the creator of neighborhood group Big Brother Burngreave, which, to name a few things, intends to divert teens from violent criminal offense.
She stated youths in her group, initially from locations consisting of Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia and Congo, might connect to the truth Mr Magid had actually sustained bigotry and bias.
“For much of them, for a number of their moms and dads, politics is not something they engage with, however Magid has actually made it trendy,” Ms Saeed stated.
“He’s revealed you can use your own equipment and fitness instructors – you do not need to remain in a match.
“That’s genuine for them. It’s revealed them [politics] is no longer simply a white individual’s position.”
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In the view of Kate Dommett, a senior speaker in the general public understanding of politics at the University of Sheffield, Mr Magid’s actions “totally redefined” the function of Lord Mayor.
“There have actually constantly been extremely minimal expectations about what the mayor in Sheffield did, however he can be found in and simply right away challenged those expectations, acting in an extremely, really various method,” she stated.
“It’s rather extraordinary for basically a regional councillor who has just ritualistic powers to have that type of nationwide profile, and he’s constructed that out of absolutely nothing.”
Image copyright Joanna Hall Sheffield youth councillors Joanna Hall, 15, and Jude Smith, 14, stated previous Lord Mayors did not stand apart and mostly stopped working to listen to youths.
“We’ve had genuine problem getting across individuals in power,” stated Joanna.
“There have actually been a great deal of individuals that are simply there for program.”
Image copyright Jude Smith Jude, who states he talks with Mr Magid on Instagram, stated: “I have mates who were indifferent in politics who have actually now delved into it due to the fact that of him.
“I believe he’s been a huge beacon of hope.”
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-48037783