US News, News, BRB Gone Viral

As Rashida Tlaib was sworn into Congress, Palestinian-American women flooded our feeds with #TweetYourThobe

#TweetYourThobe is more than a simple hashtag - it's a symbol of celebration, resistance, and thriving in a world of bigotry and racism.

By Jan. 3, 2019
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Attribution: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

The number 100 is used to mark one of the most important milestones of anyone’s lives.

It signifies completion, whether it be the maximum number of marks on a test or the point where we deem that a person has lived “a full life”.

It signifies something made whole, the point that everyone in the world aspires to reach; the number the world wants to achieve in every aspect of their lives by “giving it 100%” in everything.

Historically and politically speaking, it is used to mark the progress we’ve made as a whole, found in phrases like “a century from now” or “a couple of centuries ago.”

It has been nearly 100 years since women were given the right to vote.

And today, over 100 women have been sworn into Congress.

Over 100 women, from different religious and ethnic backgrounds, have achieved an important milestone and made history today.

Rashida Tlaib, one the first two Muslim women to be sworn into the Congress (along with Ilhan Omar), made her own statement by dressing up in a traditional Palestinian thobe (or thawb) for the ceremony.

Not only did she pay tribute to her heritage, but she inspired Twitter user and novelist @SusanDarraj to encourage Palestinian-American women to take to social media and share their pride with #TweetYourThobe.

In a call to The New York Times, Darraj said, “I’ve just been tearing up all day looking at some of these pictures,” speaking by phone from Baltimore. “It’s especially moving when you see women wearing thobes that their great-grandmothers made by hand. It’s just extraordinary, and it’s a visual testament to the relationships between mothers and daughters that we have in our culture, and I think other people can relate to that.”

We’re absolutely obsessed with the display of cultural pride.

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Here’s to many more moments of solidarity and pride in the months to come!