So a lot of it is being very myopic in your focus and your goals. I wouldn't have been able to be successful. If I allowed the mistreatment that I received - by not just teammates but coaches as well - if I allowed that to affect me mentally, we wouldn't be sitting here today. So, in the end, it didn't really matter what people thought. But one of the cool things about being a U.S. On how some of her teammates and coaches didn’t want her on the team Provided by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Hatem Aly. I wanted to get through the door and hold it open for hopefully more young girls and young boys to be in this space where traditionally we haven't been welcome.” Text copyright © 2019 by Ibtihaj Muhammad. I knew that I had a job to do and that was to make this space more inclusive not for me but for anyone coming after me. So it was never a question of, 'Why am I here?' for myself anyway. And my personality, I would say, is to challenge this idea of ‘no.’ Why is it that people are intimidated by my hijab or intimidated by my ethnicity, and why can't we exist and have the same opportunity. And within my sport - a historically white sport - to have an African American woman climb up the ranks who also wears hijab, for whatever reason, was just never received well. “I think that people have a hard time seeing things that haven't been done yet. I think the most interesting thing that my family saw is that the character Faizah, the images that Hatem illustrated, look a lot like my four-year-old niece - down to the little fluffy pigtails that she has.” So for her, I think, it was an awesome experience as well to be a part of the book. Faizah and I have fenced together for years and years and years. She's a woman of very few words and she's like, ‘Oh, that's cool.’ But that's it. “I think that Asiya's response is so indicative of who she is. On her real-life sisters being the characters Faizah and Asiya I think he's very talented and I'm so happy to partner with him on this project.” Text copyright © 2019 by Ibtihaj Muhammad. These comparisons of the hijab to the sky and to the ocean, just the beautiful blues that he's able to capture the words. I think that he brought the words to life. “I think that Hatem Aly, he's a Canadian illustrator, he did such a remarkable job with this body of work. And I think when you look at the younger sister Faizah's perspective, for her to see that it didn't change how tall or proud her sister was in that moment how she stood and she continued to play with her friends and not allow it to affect or change how she felt about herself, I think it's a meaningful moment for children out there whoever had that universal experience of bullying.” But at the same time, it's so, I think, meaningful her response to that situation and her friends to rally around her and to ignore his comment and to not lash out in that moment. So you don't see his image, he kind of looks like this dark shadowy figure. “It was intentional for the bully not to really have a face. On how she addressed bullying in her book The children’s book provided her with an outlet to show other little girls wearing hijabs to school that it’s okay - “I hope that they see themselves in this work,” she says - while teaching other children to “celebrate one another despite our differences.” Author and Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad (Courtesy of Hachette Book Group, Inc.) Interview Highlights Muhammad says writing “The Proudest Blue” was cathartic. “At that age, you want to fit in,” she says. In elementary school, she had to explain what a hijab was to classmates, something she describes as “quite a heavy load to carry” at such a young age. Since then, she’s been viewed as a role model for young Muslim women, something she says is still surreal.Īs a kid growing in the suburbs of New York City, Muhammad says her parents and siblings were one of the only Muslim families in town, yet sporting a hijab was “commonplace” within her family. She made headlines in 2016 when she became the first Muslim American woman to represent the United States in the Olympics wearing a hijab, and the first to win a medal at the games. It's an experience that co-author and Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad knows all too well. The head covering, worn in public by some Muslim women, is a way to honor Islam.īut as Faizah and Asiya navigate a new school year, the two siblings encounter questions as well as teasing and bullying for wearing a hijab. The new children's book “ The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family” looks at a common childhood experience - the first day of school.įor sisters Faizah and Asiya, the first day is extra special because older sister Asiya will be wearing a beautiful blue hijab to school for the first time.
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