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POEM: My Hijab is my empowerment, my strength, and my honor

caption: Zahraa Abdulazeez, a hijabi Muslim woman fighting for her rights to wear her hijab.
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Zahraa Abdulazeez, a hijabi Muslim woman fighting for her rights to wear her hijab.
KUOW Photo/Rahmah Abdulazeez

Muslim women are powerful and can choose to wear a headscarf or not, says RadioActive’s Rahmah Abdulazeez. Rahmah wrote a poem about how she deals with discrimination as a hijabi in the United States. Rahmah wove her poem together with moments from a conversation with her sister, Zahraa Abdulazeez.

[RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW's radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This episode was entirely youth-produced, from the writing to the audio editing.]


T

he pain that never eases when I hear the voices

They swirl around me and confine me.

The stares that never cease, the fingers pointing in my way

I try so hard to keep them at bay.

But better believe it only gets worse

When they blindly accuse me and curse.

When they call me a terrorist, when I’ve lost the most

They blame the hijab that protected me from west to coast.


"It makes me feel safe. Without it, it feels like there’s this big piece that’s missing. Like I’m missing something big, not just anything. And I can’t imagine my life without the hijab, or the scarf." Zahraa Abdulazeez

Ever since that day I wore the hijab, I was given a choice

Whether I agreed or not, I had a voice.

I want to let you know

Every time you criticize me, my faith will only grow.

You are no different from me

Don’t let religion be a barrier to a degree.

Yes, we have different beliefs

But in the end of the day, we all suffer from grief.



"I wore the scarf without any pressure." ZAHRAA ABDULAZEEZ

I am a survivor

A warrior in disguise.

My armor is what kept me alive.

My battle scars are from those who lied.

Don’t take silence for weakness

My faith and patience are my uniqueness.

I am power waiting to be free.

Don’t keep criticizing,

Just let me be.


Islam – it’s peace. It teaches you how to respect others, It teaches you to be kind. It teaches you how help others no matter who they are, where they come from, or what their race is. ZAHRAA ABDULAZEEZ

To the land between the two rivers:

Whenever I visit you, I quiver.

Mesopotamia, you were once great

Now all you are is bait.

To the ones who came and destroyed my home:

Your bombs, occupation, and casualties led us to roam.

Nevertheless, I still survived

But don’t think for a minute that I won't thrive.

We may be practicing different religions, but in the end

We all live under the same sky looking at the same moon.

This story was created in RadioActive's Online Intro to Radio Journalism Workshop for 15- to 18-year-olds, with production support from Kyle Norris. Prepared for the web by Charlotte Engrav. Edited by Diana Opong.

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