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Faruk Yussuf
– Wise up!
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Model and basketball player Farouk Yussuf - about the fact that happiness for a person is in his way of thinking and awareness

I’m 26. I was born in Magnitogorsk (Chelyabinsk region). The town, I used to live, identifies with an iron ore plant. Iron ore deposits were found not long before the World War II. Those days its production was vitally important. For this very reason, the workers and high-priced equipment were sent from the front line to Magnitogorsk, somewhere from Europe. If not an active warfare it wasn’t replaced. After the World War II the plant remained working and Magnitogorsk has become known for it. I finished school in Magnitogorsk and moved to Moscow only when I went to university. So, I’ve been living here in Moscow for about 10 years.

Wow! Do you have siblings?

No.

Did your parents stay to live in Magnitogorsk?

Only mum. My parents divorced when I was six years old. Dad moved to England but he originally from Nigeria.

Do you keep in touch with him?

Yeah, I do. Just 4 years ago I visited him. I’ve been living in England over a month.

Awesome. Why did you move to Moscow?

Nothing to do in Magnitogorsk

I mean, the quality of education is extremely low. Just imagine. I finished school of Mathematics and Physics, technical studies. Since childhood I had some kind of predisposition to STEM subjects rather than social science. I had a few options. Go on to do further study in Magnitogorsk, Magnitogorsk State Technical University or Social Science University. Well, social studies or STEM studies university. Actually, I had nothing to do in that Technical University in home town which has a very low level of teaching. I had all chances to do free education there. But I decided that still I should have tried to move towards something more. I applied to universities in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Moscow (several universities) and Zelenograd. Ultimately, I applied to 5 universities: in St. Petersburg, in Kazan, Medical University in Zelenograd, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Bauman Moscow State Technical University. So, when I successfully passed state exams I felt I can study in almost any of them, I already chose what I liked best. It was Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

«Yes. Sure. There was unpleasant experience. Magnitogorsk is different from Moscow. It is a province»
«My father experienced discrimination, but there weren’t so many incidents»
Hey, how was your childhood? And how did you live in your region? Did you feel different from others?

Yes. Sure. There was unpleasant experience. Magnitogorsk is different from Moscow. It is a province. Only when I moved to Moscow I realized this difference in attitude. I lived in Magnitogorsk, I took this for granted. I looked differently from everyone else. I just lived with it, and apparently put up with it. In Moscow it has changed.

So there was a completely different attitude in Moscow?

Yes. I stood out less, let’s say. If in Magnitogorsk it was so visible, then here in Moscow it’s not.

Maybe that’s why you decided to move?

Mmm, at that moment, honestly, it wasn't in my list of pros and cons.

Only one minus for education?

Well, Yes. I didn’t think that I would go to Moscow, because I was being disadvantaged or offended here in Magnitogorsk. I wasn’t even close to thinking that. I realized that if I want to achieve something, I have to go to Moscow, staying in Magnitogorsk means just to go to this local university, and then work at the plant.

I mean, there’s nothing to compare with when you’re growing up?

Yes, it was a fact of life for me. I probably still see it that way. There were moments when I didn’t really understand that, but I had thoughts about what might be different. I remember my father left us, I was about six years old, I do not remember much, and there are no special memories. But later, when I talked to him, I was already a schoolboy, he told me the story when they were caught a couple of times, cheated and beaten in Magnitogorsk. It was the 90s, the end of the 80s. At those moments I realized that it probably happens differently. Again, I could not feel it, there was no such attitude towards me.

I see.

My father experienced discrimination, but there weren’t so many incidents. I’ve heard a story how some people pressured them and then the police beat them, and no one protected them.

He didn’t stay in Russia. He decided to leave, why?

One of the reasons - living standards and bullying somehow. It seems to me that the main motive for his move was a desire to find a better life. Not because of racism. If you compare Magnitogorsk and London, surely, he went to London. When he had the opportunity, he found some contacts, so he could study and at the same time, work there.

Don’t you want to move to London?

I’ve thought about it, but not now.

«Despite what our civilization and humanity have achieved, we observe skin-color discrimination»
How do you live in Russia?

Well. Sometimes I joke that I am completely ‘Russified’. I’m Russian mentally. I speak Russian. I was raised mainly by mum, mum is Russian. I do not feel like I’m just outsider in the other world. I know maybe somewhere in Europe I would have lived a little bit better. It’s not related to skin color. This is probably more related to the perception of the world.

I have another question. Would you like to use your identity to be exceptional, to stay in a place where you are one of a kind? Quite the opposite, where there are a lot of people like you, advancing your rights.... in Europe, to become one of many?

I didn’t think about it until you mentioned it.

And now you’re thinking? (laughter)

Yes. Now I feel that maybe it was such a negligible factor, maybe somewhere in the subconscious, intuitively… This also influenced the decision to go to Moscow rather than stay in Magnitogorsk. Not being different from others made my life there a little bit easier. There are not that so many dark-skinned people in Magnitogorsk. As I say, this was not the main reason for me. And in answer to your question, I can’t say that I need this uniqueness as I look different from everyone around. I’m not looking for that. It seems to me that skin color is not the criteria that I would like to stand out for. I am not ready to go back to Magnitogorsk just because there are not dark-skinned people there, and I will be the only one in the whole city. It’s not worth it. I’m not afraid of going to Europe just because I will be equal there. No, no, no.

«Not being different from others made my life there a little bit easier»
«Despite what our civilization and humanity have achieved, we observe skin-color discrimination»
«When they try to seek justice they realize that it’s impossible. Surely, people deserve this justice. The only thing left is to protest. Are we really ready for it?»
Would you like to be exceptional? Like what?

I think we all want to be exceptional not just by nature, but through our achievements. You want to develop personal abilities somehow, achieve something and be exceptional based not on your skin color.

Do you know what you would like to achieve?

That’s the most difficult question for me. There are people who know from their childhood what they want. They should be so lucky. For instance, I have a distant relative since her childhood she wanted to become a veterinarian. She has already entered the university by now. As I know she has completed her first year, and she knows she is a veterinarian. She had no doubt, she just knew from her childhood what is her vocation. So, she made her decision without any hesitation. I’m not like her. I’m not sure about my vocation. I finished Bauman Moscow State Technical University after that I didn’t set up in my profession. I worked in my degree field and I realized: “No, I can’t.”

What do you do for a living now?

I’m working as a Barista in a coffee shop as well as a tutor. I’m trying to get into soft writing. I have basic knowledge of two languages Phyton and Si++. And 3D printers… But it’s like a hobby. I was in my fourth year, and my friend and I... she was doing all sorts of cakes in a pastry shop. She had an idea of making toppers. At that time, in Russia 3D printing wasn’t well developed. There were a few enthusiasts who were doing something there, but mostly it was mas-producible in Europe and in US. But she says: “I want to make these toppers” and we started googling. Toppers were cut out of plywood and acrylic on a CNC machine. It was such a well-established technology for us. But we decided that we needed something more interesting. So, I kept on googling and I found out about 3D printing. We pooled some money to buy the first printer at that time. It came to me from somewhere in Europe. I spent a few days trying to fix it, and finally we started printing these toppers. It seemed to be working. We justified expenses on printer, all the plastic that we bought, and even made a little money on it. Then, we cut off our contacts and stopped working together. I only printed more either for myself or upon request. But now it’s a thing of the past for me. I am interested in this, but there are a lot of companies that do this on a commercial basis, and they do it better than I would ever be able to.

«I think we all want to be exceptional not just by nature, but through our achievements»
Yes, there are a lot of things to print. For instance, human organ printing exists.

What organ do you want to print?

I dream of a third hand. I remember an old American movie where a man grew a hand on his back. So are you taking intuitive decisions?

Something like that, I guess. Although going to university was not an intuitive decision. I already knew that the exams would be difficult to pass. I took Russian language, math, physics, computer science, and English. I did better in physics than others. I had 84 points in English and 96 points in physics. I think, well, I should go. But at the same time, before I received the results of exams, I did not clearly understand whether I should take up on computer science or translator classes? English is not my native language, but I’ve been learning it while I was at school on extra classes. My mum decided that it was necessary, and I am very grateful to her for this.

Does your father speak Russian to you?

That depends. More or less he remembers Russian, so we speak Russian, when it’s hard for me to switch to. We’re managing to speak English.

In the fourth or fifth year of my education, I realized that I was not ready to devote my entire life to this. I started discovering my vocation. When I worked in sales I realized that I’m a communicative person. Although I felt I was more introvert, since I didn’t have to hang out constantly with someone, communicate. It turns out I don’t know myself well and I still have a lot to figure out. So I found myself in a coffee shop, and I know I like it. I’m still trying to go into music. I really like music. I’m just an obsessed music lover.

In my life I came up with the fact that I can’t choose something that I would be willing to choose as my vocation that really interest me.

«No matter how my life works out, I'm alive – and that's enough to make me happy»
«I would like all people to stop for a moment and try to realize who they are, what they’re doing, and where we’re all going»
«When they try to seek justice they realize that it’s impossible. Surely, people deserve this justice. The only thing left is to protest. Are we really ready for it?»
Look. Are there three things you would change in the world? Have you ever thinking about it? Three things you would like to change in the world.

I can’t name just three things, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot over recent events in US. Now I will try to phrase it correctly. Being a rational person, I can hardly stand when something irrational happens in the world, and it cut across logic. Just take for an example the situation in US. It hurts me. Despite what our civilization and humanity have achieved, we observe skin-color discrimination and bullying. It’s an absurd for me, if you come across someone unfairly not by what kind of person they are, but by what color of skin they have. In fact, it’s genetics. Just a color of the skin; it does not say anything about the person at all. I’m talking about a human being as a personality. We now see this on such a global scale, and it’s shocking to me. We use smartphones, explore nanotechnology and have some super-mini cameras, but we still haven’t reached this simple truth. And this is what I would like to change; this is one of the examples. Over the situation in US, let’s say, people get bulled about the color of their skin. Here, I feel history repeating. It didn’t suddenly appear from somewhere. I do not even know in what century, history is my weak point.

In colonial period, let’s say.

Yes. But it shocks me how we respond to it. All these protests. Can’t we solve it in a more civilized way without doing all this stuff?

I did post on Instagram. One of my friends says, well, what should they do, all those who are now protesting in US? What should they do if they tried to solve it in a civilized way, no one hears them. Still it doesn’t contradict what I’m saying. It’s a crap… It’s not one, not two person, lots of people. When they try to seek justice they realize that it’s impossible. Surely, people deserve this justice. The only thing left is to protest. Are we really ready for it? That’s what hurts me.

Answering your question, what would I like to change? Change people’s attitude?

Probably.

Just to learn to hear each other.

But it’s not the only thing. Again, you see the current environmental situation. I’m not highly responsible for it. I’m trying to sort trash somehow without fanaticism, but I know that’s important. I would like people change attitude to it. I would like people, finally, realize that it’s impossible to imagine the world in which we live like this. This consumer society, in my opinion, that is destructive. In the end, we would be stew in our juice for a while. That’s happening now. I’m not talking about the changing the whole world, but if I had the opportunity, some kind of magic wand, I would try to put this idea in people’s minds.

But there are a lot of organizations engaged in this process.

Yes, but for some reason the result…

Why do you think the result is like this?

I think the reason is that people are not fully aware of it. Until humanity as a whole, rather than individuals, isn’t involved in it. The situation can hardly be changed.

It’s a matter of awareness, isn’t it?

That’s it. I’ve said about it.

How do you think, skin color or appearance, not even dark skin, if a person looks different, it prevents him from building a career and living well or contributes to it?

It depends how you feel about it. When I look back on any negative situations in my childhood over skin color, I only can tell about a few, although I know I faced it more times than remember. But at the same time, if I remember when it privileged me, surely, more these stories in my mind. I tried not to grab my attention on the fact that it was some kind of my disadvantage or something else, I perceived it differently.

In other words?

I mean, I wouldn’t be in the modeling business if not my skin color. Plus, I feel people’s care and attitude to me. Yes, someone really keeps out of me; these are the people with whom I basically do not have any contacts. At the same time, there are people that treat me favorably over the color of my skin.

Well, how to clarify…..

It’s a bit like a litmus test.

Well, yes. For example, a guy wants to meet a girl. Color of my skin gives me already an advantage. Not always, not in all cases, but sometimes I have this advantage. I meet an eye on me due to the skin tone. That’s what I’m getting at. Surely, if I feel shy and worried about it would lead to some insecurities. The situation would have been completely different.

What do you think about being a happy person? Can you say you’re a happy person, what is happiness for you?

Um… I can definitely call myself a happy person. For me, happiness is just living. No matter how my life works out, I’m alive – and that’s enough to make me happy. In my understanding, this is so. I don’t remember periods of my life when I was unhappy. There were very difficult times in my life when I fell into a deep depression for almost two years after university. Again, I can’ say that I was completely unhappy. Well, I managed to live through it. That’s enough for me.

It seems to me that happiness for a person is – I try to avoid this word - mindfulness. I mean, it’s all about the way you think, anyway. No matter what situation in your life you face, you can still have some way of thinking that will make us happy, something like that. It’s probably sounds clumsy, but as I feel...

Is there something that inspires you? Your source of power. Something you can lean on.

It’s probably the answer to the previous question and my answer to it. In the most difficult situations I try to focus on the fact that I was given this life.

What does it mean to feel this life? You go somewhere. You just sit on the ground…

Music, mainly. For me, music is… My life is a movie where the sound track doesn’t stop. I always have something playing on. I’ve been doing music since I was in high school. I tried to change my mood through music, picking up the chords to my mood. For me, these are connected things.

Is this a specific style of music?

No, I listen to lots of things. Actually I practiced and tried to drive myself into different states of mood just by playing music.

Why don’t you consider something for yourself in this business?

There are probably two main factors why I haven’ tried to build a musical career yet. Firstly, I’m afraid subconsciously to do this because music really means a lot to me. It scares me if I start working in this business, I will lose this connection with it. I feel it will no longer be a source of strength and inspiration for me because it will turn into a routine and work. But I just found myself thinking I have this fear. I’m happy with the way it’s going now. This interaction is enough for me. At the same time, I realize that if I went into this business, I would go there from head to heels.

Secondly, it’s an art. You need to find some source of self-expression. For example, if we liken it to photography. I love it and take film photos sometimes - I have an old Zenith, shooting sometimes with digital camera. I enjoy it. And in my first or second year at university, I felt this my way of self-expression. I don’t know how to describe it in other words. When I see something beautiful in the world around me and I feel and understand how I want to capture it. Clearly, 99.9% of the time I can’t capture it the way I see it, but I’m trying. In any case, I got this feeling.

Look, if you had a chance to say something to the world, what you would say?

Wise up! That’s the first thing that comes to my mind, seriously. I would make the slogan ‘Wise up’, and it doesn’t matter in what sense. Very often we don’t think, we get lost and this happens both to individuals and to humanity.

«No matter how my life works out, I'm alive – and that's enough to make me happy»
«I would like all people to stop for a moment and try to realize who they are, what they’re doing, and where we’re all going»
‘Wise up’... Let me explain it. On the one hand, the problem is people think too much (we found out two minutes ago) and wind up themselves. On the other hand, what do you mean by ‘wise up’? Words are like keys. If the word is chosen correctly, it reveals meaning.

Probably, ‘wise up’ is an exclamation form of ‘think out’. One does not diminish the other. The meaning is probably closer to ‘think out’. I would like all people to stop for a moment and try to realize who they are, what they’re doing, and where we’re all going. I guess we... It’s a characteristic of a human being; sometimes the daily grind gets to individuals or society. We get stuck in it; just end up running around in circles. We need to earn money, strive for a better life, and find time for self- development, blah-blah-blah, and all this chaos. Plus, the information chaos from the outside, and the world events, and social networks, and the Internet, and that’s all we are in. I want people to stop at least for a moment and try to realize what is happening around them on a larger scale, so let the squirrel stops for a moment, gets out of its wheel and looks at what is happening around.

Don’t you think the pandemic was this moment?

I hope so. Well, I had a great quarantine. I don’t complain at all. I relaxed. I had a vacation of two months in a figural sense. Still I had to somehow scramble to figure things out. If it would be possible to reconsider the environmental issues and consumption, I did hope this would really change people’s attitude a little bit… but somehow. Now I feel nothing has changed. It’s my opinion.

I wouldn’t say it’s a God’s work weather we deserved it; it happened when it happened: in time and in the form awaited for a long time.

«When certain groups of people are oppressed and they let it pass, and finally, it ends up with outsized fear response»
Don’t you think that BlackLivesMatter is just for people being left with their own thoughts? It detonated because people couldn’t keep silence any longer and it has become a gunshot for the society?

Quite possible. Unfortunately, I don’t know everything what has happened there. I’ve heard about the death of George Floyd, how society responded to it and what it resulted in. I’ve learnt about this movement just from the media. I’m not fully aware of, first of all, the whole story and background, and the purpose of what is happening. Secondly, even if I knew a real deal, I wouldn’t be able to put myself in their place and lived through it, what led to this movement that made them do what they are doing now. I suspect these are interdependent things. If not this crisis, it might not have been reached the end of the rope. It would have roiled on a bit, and then it would have calmed down again, as it did before, it’s not for the first time. Well, again, I don’t agree with the actions they take. It looks like a chaos. I don’t know who is organizing these protests: a movement or a provocation…breach of trust or not. I don’t know so many facts. It looks like they went too far. I think, on the one hand, what happening is natural, as we had with sex minorities. When certain groups of people are oppressed and they let it pass, and finally, it ends up with outsized fear response. Rather than just trying to ensure equal rights, we put even more pressure on them. As a result, they stop being reasonable in their desires... The situation attracts more attention than it deserves, and the issue becomes such a burning, although it’s not supposed to be, that all cause a backlash

«When certain groups of people are oppressed and they let it pass, and finally, it ends up with outsized fear response»
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