With all the stories on the Internet it can be difficult to always stay in the know. To help, we’ve searched the web for interesting pieces of news, videos and tips to help you start off your week on the right foot.
1. Citadel to consider exceptions for Muslim students
The Citadel, Charleston, S.C. March, 2016.
(Photo by Zach Bland/The Citadel)
According to Nick Pinelli, a cadet expected to graduate next month, the Citadel has been discussing with students the possibility of uniform accommodations. The Washington Post reported that, on Friday, a Citadel spokesperson, Brett Ashworth, said “the school is considering two specific requests from a student: That she be allowed to wear a hijab and that she be allowed to cover her arms and legs.” According to The Washington Post a spokesperson from the school said that no decision had been made and that, if one was, it would be the only exception made to the school’s strict dress code since its creation 175 years ago. [tweetthis]A Citadel spokesman says the school is considering two specific requests from a student: That she be allowed to wear the hijab and that she be allowed to cover her arms and legs.[/tweetthis]
2. Muslim women surfers take on waves
KCETSoCalConnected YouTube
“I feel like I’m closest to God when I’m surfing,” Sarah Elsheikh, a Muslim surfer and MBA student, told KCET. “Sometimes those waves do pound on you and for a couple seconds you don’t know how it’s going to end. And that connection with God is definitely there.” A year ago this month, Elsheikh along with four other women were interviewed by KCET, a Los Angeles news station, to talk about how they merge their faith with their love of water sports. “Yes, it’s hot and the material can get heavy when wet,” Aurelia Khatib told KCET. “But if you really love something, you’re going to find a way to do it.”
3. Hawa Fuseini talks: “Why You Should Not Ask a Muslim Women to Remove Her Hijab”
“Muslim American women should not be humiliated and marginalized based on their religious identity,” writes, Hawa Fuseini, writer, spoken word artist and poet.
Writer, spoken word artist and poet, Hawa Fuseini, writes for HuffPost Religion about the duality that comes with being an American citizen and a Muslim woman that wears the hijab. “I wear the hijab as an expression of my free religious choice and yet I encounter so much resistance,” Fuseini writes. In her column she discusses the experiences of other women being asked to remove their hijabs and connects it to her own. She gives Ibtihaj Mohammed’s, who it set to be the first woman wearing the hijab to represent the United States in the 2016 Olympic Games, recent encounter of being asked to remove her hijab by a volunteer at SXSW for an I.D. photo as an example of the too commonly asked question. “The belief that Muslim women do not choose to wear the hijab is dangerous and problematic,” Fuseini writes. [tweetthis]”The belief that Muslim women do not choose to wear the hijab is dangerous and problematic,” writes, Hawa Fuseini, writer, spoken word artist and poet.[/tweetthis]
4. Muslim woman says, “I want people to look at me.”
Nazneen Husain (at left) and her friend, Sarwat Husain (right).
STORYCORPS
At the StoryCorps booth on Feb. 24 in Texas, Sarwat Husain was interviewed by her friend Nazneen Husain. Having moved to American with her husband from Pakistan, Husain is Muslim but didn’t always wear the hijab. After 9/11 she decided to give the hijab a try and said she experienced a very different public perception. Husain is a national board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the president of the CAIR San Antonio chapter.
5. Student activists hold “Hijab Day” at Parisian university
The Washington Post
Student activists held a “Hijab Day” at Paris’s Sciences Po University in hopes of educating non-Muslims of the stigma and challenges Muslim women face. However, The Washington Post reports that the event sparked controversy throughout France.
[tweetthis]5 things you should know to start your week off right[/tweetthis]
This list was curated by Kaitlin Montgomery, altM News Editor
