SEATTLE -- When President Trump speaks before a joint Congress for the first time Tuesday, a West Seattle woman will also be making a statement.
“I thought about wearing an American flag hijab, but I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I prefer bright colors, so probably a brightly-colored scarf,” Aneelah Afzali, 39, said.
U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) invited Afzali, the executive director of the American Muslim Empowerment Network (AMEN), to be her guest at the address.
“Aneelah’s story is the American story,” Rep. Jayapal said. “She represents everything good about our country and I could not be prouder to have her as my guest. The president cannot hide from those he is threatening.”
Afzali says sometimes to stand up, one has no choice but to stand out.
“I want them to look in the eyes and in the face, and recognize the people they impact with their words, with their policies, with their proposals, with their rhetoric,” Afzali said.
Afzali and her family left Afghanistan when she was a toddler. As refugees, they went first to Germany and then on to the United States, where Afzali would be the first in her family to go to college and then on to Harvard Law School. Three years ago, she gave up her law career to be a community activist.
“I said, you know what? I've been pursuing this career path for so long. Let me do some service. Two things my faith encourages: seeking knowledge and seeking service -- giving back,” Afzali said, explaining she recently launched a legal clinic at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in Redmond.
The latest FBI crime data shows anti-Muslim hate crimes at their highest in 2016 since 2001, after the 9/11 attacks. Afzali says she knows this first hand.
“I’ve had people drive by, roll down their windows and scream obscenities like ‘Go home.’ Even though this is my home,” Afzali said of an incident at Alki Beach.
“In some ways, it's a scary time to be a Muslim,” Afzali said, “but at the same time I look forward to being there at the State of the Union, standing proud as an American Muslim woman and reminding our politicians this is America. We are America. We are America together.”
