I remember the first day that I began to
wear my headscarf also known as hijab I
remember vividly walking up to my
middle-school door yes I started wearing
in middle school my very first day of
middle school going up to the door and
feeling my knees shake my stomach crunch
and I was afraid I wasn’t afraid to be
Muslim I wasn’t afraid to wear the hijab
itself but I was afraid of how people
would react the night before I decided
to put on a job I was 11 years old and I
was in my in my room and at the time 11
euros didn’t have smartphones so I was
using a home phone and I was going
through call list
I was calling all my friends and I was
like hello are you seeking to be my
friend if I wear a headscarf I’m gonna
wear it tomorrow
are you still gonna be my friend and I
remember getting some reassurances and
some rejections so the day that I came
up to that door I was so scared and you
can only imagine that because 9/11 was
so fresh in the minds and the hearts of
Americans so on that very first day that
I stepped foot to become hey jebby and
represent what I find to be my
liberation my freedom as a Muslim woman
to allow people to see me my soul before
they see the rest before seeing the rest
of me my skin my bodily appearance so on
that very first day that I took that
step not only in my piety not only my
spirituality but as in my identity
as a human being as a Muslim girl I was
called everything under the book that
you can imagine I was called Osama bin
Laden’s niece I was told go back to your
country I was told why are you wearing a
towel on your head and I even had a
student in my art class I was very timid
at the time I didn’t have the confidence
that I have today so I was sitting and I
was like shivering I was scared and this
kid goes up he wraps a sweater over his
head and he takes two markers that were
sitting in front of us and the art
supply room and he took them out and he
made a gun and he said he started making
gun noises and he was saying look at me
I’m a terrorist
just like Yasmin and I remember feeling
so crushed that day because all I wanted
and even till this day all I want is to
spread peace to spread love and being
misrepresented like that was one of the
most heart clenching moments because it
was my very first time that I felt
injustice now that was not the last time
in high school it was a new ballgame I
started to have thicker skin I went
through all these experiences in middle
school and middle school kids are crazy
and mean but high school is different in
the innocence that I had my own
educators teaching misrepresented
misrepresentations of who I am and my
people in front of my face in our
classroom the place where we as a
society are supposed to be enriching the
minds of human beings but I felt like
the opposite was taking place so here on
my exam I remember is a religion chapter
of my English and geography class there
was this question and it was stuck to me
and I remember it words the word and he
said who are the most oppressed
the religion of Islam children be man
see women or d all the above and the
correct answer right out of the answer
key was women and I don’t know that was
the day that was the turning point where
I was like hey I have not let somebody
misrepresent who I am and I remember
going up to my teacher and I said I
won’t i’m refuse to answer this question
i left it blank and knowing me I was the
type of student that I wanted to get
hundreds all the time so me leaving a
question blank was a really big deal for
me so I did so and he told me I’m so
sorry this is what we are given this is
what we are given to teach you for your
exam and I’m really stuck with me
because these misrepresentations are
everywhere in classrooms in news
platforms in political rhetoric it’s
everywhere and I this means they’re
Muslim woman and troubled by that or was
troubled by that did you see these were
the limitations that were placed upon me
people look at me and think that either
any I don’t know how to speak English be
my father forces me to do things
I am oppressed and the reality of it is
that those limitations the only
limitations in my life are the
limitations of people telling me what my
freedom should be and that’s not sworn
in itself because an individual chooses
their Liberation’s
an individual chooses how they define
their freedom and by telling me that I
am oppressed when I feel the exact
opposite is troubling rationally
so later on in my high school career
after that incident I joined basketball
team and I was like I’m going to show
people that this head swipe does not
stop me this headscarf does not limit me
I would participate and everything that
people think I cannot participate in so
I don’t I’ve asked my team and I was
doing really well
and I came to another barrier another
adversity that came into my life and
that was when I wanted to go into
varsity so when I was going into varsity
and they were trying to put me in to get
up they told me that there is a Florida
law the seats that anyone that is
wearing a headscarf cannot do so unless
there is literature or legal proof that
you are wearing a headscarf for
religious purposes so I fought for this
I got a lawyer and I was able to play
basketball in my headscarf by doing this
I was the very first shabby
Muslim girl in my high school history to
ever play sports ever
[Applause]
[Music]
Rousseau I wanted people to know I want
people to see that know my religion does
not limit me and no matter what people
tell me my religion does to me I am free
seven when I went to the University of
Florida my dad and I were going back
home and we were driving for a while and
I was supposed to sit in the passenger
seat and for some reason I decided not
to I was like I’m gonna sit in the back
I’m gonna read my book I’m not gonna
wear my seat belt and I’m just gonna
enjoy that surely after I just hear
metal crashed I didn’t know what was
going on my head slams against the
drivers seat
all I see is glass and I remember that
moment so vividly because that was the
moment where I thought if I sat in my
passenger seat that day I probably
wouldn’t be standing here today and so I
put all this together
I put the limitations that society
places on me I put that moment where I
could have not been standing here and I
said Who am I what am i doing what did I
leave on this earth if I had gone what
Mark did I leave how would people
remember not even just me but the impact
that I made in society it’s easy to sit
around and whine and and and and
complain about the struggles that we
face but being put in a situation where
I could have not been here today made me
have an existential crisis at the age of
18 I sat down and I realized that people
hate me for no reason
I may die at any moment and that sounds
very morbid
but you and I we don’t know when our
next breath will be we don’t know
there’s uncertainty in that it could be
from a hate crime it could be from a car
accident it could be from a plane crash
it could be from falling off your bed
but these things made me realize that
everything that I went through I went
through for a reason and that I should
use it to feel positive change instead
of reading in on these negative
instances these negative problems and
taking them to another level so I went
on my Twitter account and I know that I
can drop sometimes I draw for fun and I
was like I’m going to do something with
what I can I have paper I have pencils
that’s all I need
I took my paper I took my pencils I
posted on Twitter it ended up getting
shared a lot I had people my DMS from
Germany Japan China you name it they
were in my DMS and there are silly
pictures of their family and themselves
and I was like this is great I’m going
to do something for once I’m going to
make an impact I’m going to leave
something in this world because if I do
leave for whatever reason I will know
confidently that I left something that I
left something concrete so this was my
very first drawing that I did and 100%
of the proceeds went to Syrian refugees
and this one here is a drawing of a
giraffe that one of my high school
friends contacted me she heard about my
project and the money went towards the
Syrian or Fiji that is presented before
you these are human beings that just
like me are misrepresented people see
them as a threat people see them as
danger even though all they want
to be free all they want is the pursuit
of happiness so I took that and I
identified with their struggle because
I’ve been there and I used that specific
population as a means to sharing my own
struggles and putting it into something
that they can have in their hands so I
challenge you to take every barrier
you’ve ever experienced any hardship
you’ve ever encountered and I know that
each and every one of you sitting here
today has gone through something
horrible or has gone through something
very tough and I want you to take that
challenge and use it for good identify
with a population take something they
all have something good to share we all
have some strengths
whether it’s comedy whether it’s art
whether it’s something that’s not even
concrete and use it for good and I
promise you the feeling is amazing
because at that moment that you do that
you are limitless
[Music]
wear my headscarf also known as hijab I
remember vividly walking up to my
middle-school door yes I started wearing
in middle school my very first day of
middle school going up to the door and
feeling my knees shake my stomach crunch
and I was afraid I wasn’t afraid to be
Muslim I wasn’t afraid to wear the hijab
itself but I was afraid of how people
would react the night before I decided
to put on a job I was 11 years old and I
was in my in my room and at the time 11
euros didn’t have smartphones so I was
using a home phone and I was going
through call list
I was calling all my friends and I was
like hello are you seeking to be my
friend if I wear a headscarf I’m gonna
wear it tomorrow
are you still gonna be my friend and I
remember getting some reassurances and
some rejections so the day that I came
up to that door I was so scared and you
can only imagine that because 9/11 was
so fresh in the minds and the hearts of
Americans so on that very first day that
I stepped foot to become hey jebby and
represent what I find to be my
liberation my freedom as a Muslim woman
to allow people to see me my soul before
they see the rest before seeing the rest
of me my skin my bodily appearance so on
that very first day that I took that
step not only in my piety not only my
spirituality but as in my identity
as a human being as a Muslim girl I was
called everything under the book that
you can imagine I was called Osama bin
Laden’s niece I was told go back to your
country I was told why are you wearing a
towel on your head and I even had a
student in my art class I was very timid
at the time I didn’t have the confidence
that I have today so I was sitting and I
was like shivering I was scared and this
kid goes up he wraps a sweater over his
head and he takes two markers that were
sitting in front of us and the art
supply room and he took them out and he
made a gun and he said he started making
gun noises and he was saying look at me
I’m a terrorist
just like Yasmin and I remember feeling
so crushed that day because all I wanted
and even till this day all I want is to
spread peace to spread love and being
misrepresented like that was one of the
most heart clenching moments because it
was my very first time that I felt
injustice now that was not the last time
in high school it was a new ballgame I
started to have thicker skin I went
through all these experiences in middle
school and middle school kids are crazy
and mean but high school is different in
the innocence that I had my own
educators teaching misrepresented
misrepresentations of who I am and my
people in front of my face in our
classroom the place where we as a
society are supposed to be enriching the
minds of human beings but I felt like
the opposite was taking place so here on
my exam I remember is a religion chapter
of my English and geography class there
was this question and it was stuck to me
and I remember it words the word and he
said who are the most oppressed
the religion of Islam children be man
see women or d all the above and the
correct answer right out of the answer
key was women and I don’t know that was
the day that was the turning point where
I was like hey I have not let somebody
misrepresent who I am and I remember
going up to my teacher and I said I
won’t i’m refuse to answer this question
i left it blank and knowing me I was the
type of student that I wanted to get
hundreds all the time so me leaving a
question blank was a really big deal for
me so I did so and he told me I’m so
sorry this is what we are given this is
what we are given to teach you for your
exam and I’m really stuck with me
because these misrepresentations are
everywhere in classrooms in news
platforms in political rhetoric it’s
everywhere and I this means they’re
Muslim woman and troubled by that or was
troubled by that did you see these were
the limitations that were placed upon me
people look at me and think that either
any I don’t know how to speak English be
my father forces me to do things
I am oppressed and the reality of it is
that those limitations the only
limitations in my life are the
limitations of people telling me what my
freedom should be and that’s not sworn
in itself because an individual chooses
their Liberation’s
an individual chooses how they define
their freedom and by telling me that I
am oppressed when I feel the exact
opposite is troubling rationally
so later on in my high school career
after that incident I joined basketball
team and I was like I’m going to show
people that this head swipe does not
stop me this headscarf does not limit me
I would participate and everything that
people think I cannot participate in so
I don’t I’ve asked my team and I was
doing really well
and I came to another barrier another
adversity that came into my life and
that was when I wanted to go into
varsity so when I was going into varsity
and they were trying to put me in to get
up they told me that there is a Florida
law the seats that anyone that is
wearing a headscarf cannot do so unless
there is literature or legal proof that
you are wearing a headscarf for
religious purposes so I fought for this
I got a lawyer and I was able to play
basketball in my headscarf by doing this
I was the very first shabby
Muslim girl in my high school history to
ever play sports ever
[Applause]
[Music]
Rousseau I wanted people to know I want
people to see that know my religion does
not limit me and no matter what people
tell me my religion does to me I am free
seven when I went to the University of
Florida my dad and I were going back
home and we were driving for a while and
I was supposed to sit in the passenger
seat and for some reason I decided not
to I was like I’m gonna sit in the back
I’m gonna read my book I’m not gonna
wear my seat belt and I’m just gonna
enjoy that surely after I just hear
metal crashed I didn’t know what was
going on my head slams against the
drivers seat
all I see is glass and I remember that
moment so vividly because that was the
moment where I thought if I sat in my
passenger seat that day I probably
wouldn’t be standing here today and so I
put all this together
I put the limitations that society
places on me I put that moment where I
could have not been standing here and I
said Who am I what am i doing what did I
leave on this earth if I had gone what
Mark did I leave how would people
remember not even just me but the impact
that I made in society it’s easy to sit
around and whine and and and and
complain about the struggles that we
face but being put in a situation where
I could have not been here today made me
have an existential crisis at the age of
18 I sat down and I realized that people
hate me for no reason
I may die at any moment and that sounds
very morbid
but you and I we don’t know when our
next breath will be we don’t know
there’s uncertainty in that it could be
from a hate crime it could be from a car
accident it could be from a plane crash
it could be from falling off your bed
but these things made me realize that
everything that I went through I went
through for a reason and that I should
use it to feel positive change instead
of reading in on these negative
instances these negative problems and
taking them to another level so I went
on my Twitter account and I know that I
can drop sometimes I draw for fun and I
was like I’m going to do something with
what I can I have paper I have pencils
that’s all I need
I took my paper I took my pencils I
posted on Twitter it ended up getting
shared a lot I had people my DMS from
Germany Japan China you name it they
were in my DMS and there are silly
pictures of their family and themselves
and I was like this is great I’m going
to do something for once I’m going to
make an impact I’m going to leave
something in this world because if I do
leave for whatever reason I will know
confidently that I left something that I
left something concrete so this was my
very first drawing that I did and 100%
of the proceeds went to Syrian refugees
and this one here is a drawing of a
giraffe that one of my high school
friends contacted me she heard about my
project and the money went towards the
Syrian or Fiji that is presented before
you these are human beings that just
like me are misrepresented people see
them as a threat people see them as
danger even though all they want
to be free all they want is the pursuit
of happiness so I took that and I
identified with their struggle because
I’ve been there and I used that specific
population as a means to sharing my own
struggles and putting it into something
that they can have in their hands so I
challenge you to take every barrier
you’ve ever experienced any hardship
you’ve ever encountered and I know that
each and every one of you sitting here
today has gone through something
horrible or has gone through something
very tough and I want you to take that
challenge and use it for good identify
with a population take something they
all have something good to share we all
have some strengths
whether it’s comedy whether it’s art
whether it’s something that’s not even
concrete and use it for good and I
promise you the feeling is amazing
because at that moment that you do that
you are limitless
[Music]
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