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5 min readVote for El Hottie
When Yasmin El Hadi was 15, sitting in her AP English class in Huntsville, Alabama, the principal came on the intercom and told teachers to stop their lessons because America was under attack. As the class watched the Twin Towers smoke on television, Yasmin had one thought: "Please, God, don't make it Muslim."
She was one of two Muslim students in a school of 500 that would feed into a high school of over 3,000. She wore a hijab, which she had chosen to put on at age eight against her parents' wishes. Her father, a Libyan who had defected from the Gaddafi regime and sought asylum, had always been her hero—a man who refused to compromise on what was right. But on September 11, 2001, he asked her to take off her headscarf.
The campaign that started at the kitchen table
Yasmin refused. She told her father: "Who's speaking up for Muslim women? If I don't wear my head scarf proudly, who's gonna talk for me?" Something shifted in him. He went from fear to pride, and then—in a moment of competitive energy with his wife—declared that Yasmin would run for senior class president.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Episode Introduction & Host Framing** - Glynn Washington introduces the episode by describing the high-stakes, quasi-democratic drama of his own book club, drawing a parallel to high school elections.
- 2 (05:43) **Yasmin’s Origin & Arrival in Alabama** - Yasmin El Hady introduces herself, her family's escape from Gaddafi's Libya, and their asylum in the U.S., landing in Alabama as a young girl.
- 3 (09:08) **Establishing Toughness & The 9/11 Earthquake** - Yasmin describes standing up to a popular bully in 8th grade, and then the shattering impact of September 11th on her family and her identity.
- 4 (12:12) **The Push to Run for President** - Yasmin refuses to remove her hijab, inspiring her father to pivot from fear to a defiant plan: she will run for high school class president.
- 5 (14:50) **Campaign Strategy: Leaning In** - Yasmin decides to run a real campaign, choosing to lean into her identity rather than hide it, and begins making posters as "El Hadi."
- 6 (16:04) **The Torn Poster & An Unlikely Apology** - Yasmin finds her campaign poster torn down, but the boy who did it later apologizes and helps her put it back up.
- 7 (22:13) **The Battle Rap Strategy** - Yasmin’s brother Hussein convinces her that the key to winning is to rap her entire election speech, a unique and memorable move.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
In sweet home Alabama, from the heart of Libya, comes a renegade candidate with a boombox and a head scarf. The cheerleaders, the geeks, the dweebs and the freaks are about to send a message the country needs right after 9/11.
A very big thank you to Yasmin! Yasmin is a comedian and storyteller. You can follow her on Instagram @yasminelhahahady or TikTok @yasmin_elhady. She first told a version of this story at Story District in Washington, DC.
Produced by Justin Kramon, original score by Renzo Gorrio, artwork by Teo Ducot.
Snap Classic - Season 17 – Episode 40
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