Rana Abdelhamid

Rana Abdelhamid is the Founding President of the Women's Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE),[1] a self-defense, leadership and entrepreneurship program for young Muslim and Jewish women in New York City,[2] other cities in the United States,[3] and internationally.[4] Over the past seven years, WISE has engaged hundreds of participants through its programs in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

Biography

Abdelhamid is of Egyptian descent and grew up in Astoria, Queens, in New York.[5] She has 3 siblings, named Omar, Mohammed, and Jennah. As a child, she studied karate.[3] Abdelhamid holds a black belt in Shotokan karate.[6] She first pitched her idea for the a self-defense class with women teaching women to her imam at the Queens Community Center when she was sixteen.[7] This was after she had been attacked on the street by a man who tried to take off her headscarf.[2] The class was rejected, but Abdelhamid continued to try and finally held her first class for Women's Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE) in 2010.[7] Since then, WISE chapters have been created in other parts of the United States and internationally, in Edinburgh, Dublin and Madrid.[4] The program has also grown to incorporate a summer camp in New York called Mentee Muslimah.[8] Abdelhamid describes creating WISE as "part of her 'healing process,'" according to Elle.[5] She told National Catholic Reporter that so-called "hijab grabs" are a common experience for Muslim women.[9]

Abdelhamid attended Middlebury College, where she majored in international politics and economics.[10] At Middlebury, she and others organized a local chapter of Amnesty International USA.[10] After graduating from Middlebury,[11] she attended Harvard Kennedy School of Government,[3] after earning a Harry S. Truman Scholarship.[10] She is a recipient of the 2015 UNAUSA Leo Nevas Human Rights Youth Award, the and the Running Start Rising Political Star.[12]

In 2014, she started a social media project called Hijabis of New York in order to "humanize and diversify the public narratives of Muslim women who wear hijabs," according to PBS.[13] The project is hosted on Facebook and takes the form of interviews conducted by Abdelhamid accompanied by photographs from various professionals.[13] In 2017, she and Maryam Aziz of WISE, along with Robie Flores and Alison Withers created a Self-Defense Starter Kit, which includes online resources and videos for Muslim women.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Women's Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE) - The Harvard Innovation Labs". The Harvard Innovation Labs. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  2. 1 2 Weiss, Suzannah (1 January 2016). "Rana Abdelhamid's Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment Teaches Self-Defense While Combatting Islamophobia". Bustle. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  3. 1 2 3 Zoll, Rachel (20 December 2015). "U.S. Muslim Women Debate Safety of Hijab Amid Backlash". The Brownsville Herald. Retrieved 30 June 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Rana Abdelhamid – Amnesty International USA". Amnesty International USA. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  5. 1 2 Rodulfo, Kristina (2016-01-13). "Why Young Muslim American Women Are Fighting Back". ELLE. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  6. ↑ Gebreyes, Rahel (2016-03-14). "WISE Founder Teaches Muslim Women Self Defense To Protect Against Hate Crimes". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  7. 1 2 White, April (2016-05-16). "Stand and Deliver". Middlebury Magazine. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  8. ↑ "Once accosted for her hijab, 22-year-old woman now teaches Muslim empowerment". Daily News & Analysis. 2015-12-31. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  9. ↑ Fiedler, Maureen (2016-12-30). "The religious implications of the Trump election". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  10. 1 2 3 "Middlebury Scholar Wins Truman Scholarship". Posse Foundation. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  11. ↑ "Accosted for her hijab in New York, Rana Abdelhamid now teaches Muslim empowerment". The Economic Times. 2015-12-31. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  12. ↑ "Rana Abdelhamid". carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  13. 1 2 Sarabia, Alexandra (4 February 2016). "Meet the women of 'Hijabis of New York'". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  14. ↑ McNamara, Brittney. "This Self-Defense Toolkit Will Prepare You for ANYTHING". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
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