Mia Ibrahim, 33, was a music teacher who was known for creating a safe, welcoming environment for their students to express themselves.
They were jogging in a crosswalk on Nicholasville Road last Friday when they were hit and killed by a driver who ran a red light.
Ibrahim, who used they/them pronouns, moved to Lexington recently and was a Ph.D student at the University of Kentucky.
“Mia was always looking to see the best in people and to bring joy in their life through music,” said Martina Vasil, an associate professor of music education at UK.
Vasil said Ibrahim’s passion for their work was enough for them to leave a high-paying job as a music teacher in New York to take the low-paying job of graduate assistant.
Their ultimate goal was to work at a community college.
They were also working to bring Arabic music to classrooms, a goal inspired by the fact their family was from Lebanon.
“I know that was going to be a big part of their life,” Vasil said. “Kind of being somebody who could kind of translate for teachers here like, it's not scary, you can use music from this region and it's beautiful and worthy.”
Just a few months ago,Ibrahim was featured in a video by Music Will, a non-profit that focuses on music education in public schools.
In the video, they talked about the importance of inclusivity and of allowing students to experiment with music and be creative.
“I think that being creative and teaching myself those instruments gave me a sense of healing and belonging and excitement and joy and I see it in their faces too,” Ibrahim said in the video.
Scott Burstein with the Music Will Foundation spoke to LEX 18 about Ibrahim’s personality, empathy and caring.
“Mia had a way of making everybody feel like they always had time for them and they were always the most important person,” Burstein said.
Ibrahim’s friends said they were shocked and devastated by their death.
Ibrahim, a member of the LGBTQ+ running group Frontrunners Lexington, was one of nearly 150 pedestrians who have been hit by drivers in Lexington this year so far.
“Hopefully it will lead toward safety measures,” Burstein said of Ibrahim’s death. “Because it's tragic and it's crazy to think that it happened, and nobody should have to get that kind of call.”
