As a Miss Germany contestant, Büsra Sayed wore a hijab on stage. This had never happened before — and the AfD didn't like it. Her response went viral.
What happened?
Last March, Büsra Sayed entered the Miss Germany pageant and even made it to the final round.
For the past few years, the pageant has come to be about more than just physical appearance. Today it's all about empowerment, with successful women entering the competition to be recognized primarily for their personality and achievements. Büsra Sayed, 27, is an entrepreneur: She sells and wears hijabs.
She also wore a hijab from her own collection on the stage of the Miss Germany pageant. This drew a lot of attention in the German media, as Sayed was (alongside one other candidate) one of the two first women in the history of the competition to wear the Muslim headscarf.
Fighting hate with love Of course, not all reactions have been positive. AfD supporters also pop up in her comments. But that's nothing new for Büsra Sayed. "I started getting hate comments and encountering discrimination from early on. And back then, the younger me didn't know how to deal with it," she said. "I was completely paralyzed by shock, I didn't have a witty comeback and felt afraid. But for me, it was clear I had to find a way to deal with it, because it's not going to stop from one day to the next, unfortunately." She countered hate with love — "but where I draw a line is threats of violence. I report them to the police, of course." At the invitation of SPD Bundestag member Rasha Nasr, she recently visited the German parliament. And of course, there's a reel about it.
The last couple of weeks have brought their fair share of excitement to Büsra Sayed. After taking time to digest everything, she feels positive looking back at the experience. "It gave me — and many other people as well — hope to see how many people spoke up and showed solidarity. You generally hear just negative voices, because they're normally louder," she says. "We definitely need more of this solidarity. We have to be visible and fight together against the right." This article was originally written in German.
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