Halima Aden made history by becoming the first fully covered Muslim to participate in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant.
The 19-year-old stepped out on the stage wearing a burkini and a hijab during the swimsuit segment on the semifinals of the contest.
Aden was born in Kenya.
She was born in a refugee camp in Kenya, which borders Somalia, and moved to Minnesota at the age of six. As soon as she stepped onto the stage, she was received with a round of applauses.
She hopes her participation helps to combat misconceptions about Islam.
“This is a great platform to show the world who I am. Just because I’ve never seen a woman wearing a burkini (in a pageant) it doesn’t mean that I don’t have to be the first,” she told.
There have been reports of hate crimes towards American Muslims.
A woman in California had her hijab ripped off her head. “We just needed one more thing to unify us. This is a small act, but I feel like having the title of Miss Minnesota USA when you are a Somali-American, when you are a Muslim woman, I think that would open up people’s eyes”.
Halima believes in they beauty of difference.
“For a really long time I thought being different was a negative thing. But as I grew older, I started to realize we are all born to stand out, nobody is born to blend in,” the teen shared to CBS. “How boring would this world be if everyone was the same?”.
Even though she didn’t win, she’s grateful for the opportunity she was given.
“This pageant is so much more than just beauty. Their whole message is about being confidently beautiful, so I didn’t think that I should allow my hijab to get into the way of me participating,” continued Halima.