Samra Tesfaye has come into the limelight as the mother to Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd. Her journey is the girl next door’s quintessential immigrant struggle of hope, struggle and devotion to her son’s dreams.
Early Life
Like most children in Ethiopia, Samra Tesfaye grew up in Ethiopia before she had to flee to Canada due to some reasons. She was an Ethiopian by nationality and has close cultural values that she took with her throughout her life and even to her only son.
Samra Tesfaye childhood was full of struggling and political instability of the Ethiopia families during that period. In 1987 Samra, took the bold move to abandon his life in Ethiopia and permanently moving to Toronto in Canada ostensibly due to job securities and better paying jobs.
Being forced to understand new social behaviors and norms, and start a life over. Their struggles during those early years would prove as a major influence on her son’s music and life journey in later years.
Losing her husband Samra had to work several jobs to support her son, and because of the many hours that were offered to her in one job to support a family, she often had to spend many hours at the different positions. In some way though, she remained very much committed to her Ethiopian values and continuously try to pass these down to Abel.
Career
Work ethic and the commitment of taking care of a family has been the key features throughout Samra’s career. Having become a single parent, she had to take multiple employment opportunities in the nursing homes and hospitals in Toronto.
All of her career decisions were highly motivated by the best interests of her son as well as prospect of providing for him a better future. Despite living a rather secretive life with secretive and focused on work and family Samra’s impact could be detected in her son’s success narrative. She laid a good working ethic and drive that paved way for Abel in the future.
Children: The Weeknd
Samra’s only child Abel Makkonen Tesfaye also known as the Weeknd is one contemporary music’s most successful singer. Abel was born on June 16, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario, and since his mother, Samra, was mostly involved in the upbringing of the young boy.
In fact, the mother in his life Samra was a single mother, who was considerably instrumental in the molding of Abel’s character and ideas. Through her, he was introduced to the Ethiopian tradition, music, and language to which his art was later gradually introduced.
His mother plays an important role in his life and career and in interviews, The Weeknd does not fail to appreciate the roles his mother played. Samra has been a close friend of The Weeknd before the artist became popular and this friendship has not changed ever since.
It has since been incepted as a reflection of Weeks narratives about the role that maternal love& immigrant spirit played on his route to stardom.
