I want to tell you about a Black cellmate who I met when I was imprisoned in Al Sadr Prison in Abu Dhabi back in 2014.
The young man spoke in a Saudi accent and said he was Saudi. He said he and his friends crossed the border into the UAE by mistake while they were out on a desert drive. His friends were released back to Saudi Arabia, he was detained and taken to prison.
The officers did not believe that he was Saudi because he was black. I met him while standing in a long line to use the phone, which was a privilege in the packed prison. He said all he wanted was to reach his family so they can send over his Saudi passport so he can leave.
"How can you be Saudi and Black?" I don't remember his name, I just remember the pained look on his face when he said how he told the officers that it wasn't his fault that he was Black, it was his parents who came to Saudi Arabia generations ago.
