In the weeks leading up to the swearing-in ceremony of the 116th United States Congress, Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) shared a teaser of what her constituents could expect to see on that first day on Capitol Hill.
“Sneak peek: This is what I am wearing when I am sworn into Congress,” she wrote on Instagram, adding the hashtags “#PalestinianThobe” and “#ForMyYama.”
The image, as the hashtags suggested, was of a traditional Palestinian thobe, a long-sleeve garment that’s typically hand-embroidered with symbols representing one’s family. Tlaib doesn’t know exactly what the design on her thobe stands for—”My mom would know,” she tells Glamour. “Much of the designs are based on what village you were part of.”
But she is clear on the personal significance of the garment. When she takes office, Tlaib will become the first Palestinian-American woman and one of the two first Muslim-American women ever to serve in Congress (the other being Representative Ilhan Omar from Minnesota), and the robe is an homage to her mother—or yama in Arabic—who’s originally from Beit Ur El Foka.
“Wearing my mother’s thobe is a gift to her,” she says. “Just like any immigrant parent, she wants her children to succeed, but without giving up our roots and culture. No matter where our parents are from, you can see the connection they’re making in me wearing my mother’s ethnic dress. It’s exciting.”
Shortly after Tlaib first posted about her thobe last month, other Palestinian women took to Twitter to celebrate the congresswoman. Palestinian-American writer Susan Muaddi Darraj started the hashtag #tweetyourthobe for people to share photos of themselves in thobes on the day of the swearing-in ceremony.
“The response [to my post] was beautiful,” Tlaib says. “My mom knows what Twitter is now because I’m showing her all the thobes young women are wearing on swearing-in day to celebrate with us.”
Many also shared the stories of their thobes with the pictures.
You can see all the entries to #TweetYourThobe here.
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