fronts, recently starring in campaigns with brands such as Dove and Torrid. Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim by Leah Vernon
In an interview with
The National, Vernon admits that she isn’t your typical modest fashion blogger: “I call them the ‘perfect Instagram hijabi’. They always wear pastels or earth tones. They have the perfect husband and the perfect kids. They are the kind of folks who don’t have many worries in life. They are usually white-passing and thin. It’s sad how Muslim women have become monoliths. Muslims aren’t ‘one size fits all.’” By opening up about her personal life and challenges and sharing her musings on social media, Vernon is diversifying conversations and assumptions around Muslim women.
Farhana Quayoum is, like most, struggling to adjust to life in the COVID-19 crisis.
Pictured here, Farhana Quayoum with two of her kids and other children at the Islamic Organization of North America in Warren, before Michigan’s stay-home order was issued.
While her day-to-day schedule hasn t changed much she homeschools her oldest and has three other kids four and under her concerns about everyday life have shifted. Her sister, a registered nurse, is working on the frontlines of the public health crisis, and she has elderly parents with underlying health conditions.
The second-generation Bangladeshi-American and former school teacher is trying to stay as informed as possible on how to protect her family.