Mabrouk, Manal Rostom!
Manal Rostom, the first athlete ever to compete in a major race wearing a Nike Pro Hijab, continues to break down barriers and succeed in her mission to empower hijabi women. The marathoner announced on Facebook last night that her global social media platform Surviving Hijab, which boasts 650,000 followers on Facebook and 20,000 on Instagram, will receiving a Facebook Fellowship Award.
“Out of 6000 applications submitted to Facebook’s Community Leadership Program, last year, @survivinghijabinitiative has been chosen as a Fellow where as a booming community on Facebook with over 650K women from all around the world , we will be receiving monetary support to grow and flourish even more as a Support Community of Hijab-babes around the world,” Manal writes on Instagram.
“This is a *HUGE* moment for us as a community that strives to smash stereotypes and break glass ceilings,” she continues. “To every Hijabi girl who has been humiliated, denied access to restaurants, pools, hotels and denied jobs – today, this Award is for you.”
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Big News Announcement : *Drum Rolls* . . Out of 6000 applications submitted to Facebook’s Community Leadership Program, last year, @survivinghijab initiative has been chosen as a Fellow where as a booming community on Facebook with over 650K women from all around the world , we will be receiving monetary support to grow and flourish even more as a Support Community of Hijab-babes around the world. . . . This is a *HUGE* moment for us as a community that strives to smash stereotypes and break glass ceilings. To every Hijabi girl who has been humiliated, denied access to restaurants, pools, hotels and denied jobs – today , this Award is for you. . . . To speak up LOUDER, STRONGER and have NO FEAR to stand up for your right. . . . Link in bio if you want to learn more about Facebook’s social empowerment to Groups and initiatives across the World. . . . Thank you @facebook for giving us a voice and for giving us a platform to express ourselves with a mere objective to change the world. . . . Massive thanks to @chrissharb & the rest of the Facebook Team for having my back throughout this process when others thought my cause was CRAZY or stupid or refused to even work with me- because of my Hijab – I mean, look at the beauty of this . . . Remember this , ok : Everyone who refuses to support you, (or even text you back ) God will send down MORE POWERFUL and STRONGER entities to guide you and support you and lift you up. #ALWAYS. . . You can join our online community by joining the Facebook group if you are Female (you dont have to be muslim or covered) otherwise you can follow us on @survivinghijab . . . . Shoutout to @rayoufalhumedhi for creating this Emoji and taking it to @apple a couple years back . . . In other news – would you like a t-shirt like this? . . #survivingHijab
A post shared by Manal A Rostom (@manirostom) on Sep 25, 2018 at 2:40am PDT
The Facebook Community Leadership Program is designed to empower and give a platform to community leaders around the world – like Manal. The selected winners will receive a cash donation from Facebook that will go towards them building their community.
Manal is pictured wearing a t-shirt with the slogan of her Facebook group and an icon of a hijab emoji, which was invented by Rayouf Alhumedhi.
Mabrouk, Manal!
