Ran into my great friend & photographer of this powerful image @ridzdesign today! Please read some of his own stirring words on it, "I created the photograph on the left almost TEN YEARS ago for the 6 Year Anniversary of 9/11 as a response to the rhetoric of that time against Muslims and the claims that we weren’t American enough//I wanted to make a power statement. I wanted to create something that we as a community could be proud of. I wasn’t apologizing for anything, I wasn’t asking to be accepted, I was merely stating that I too was an American. Wholly and completely and nothing anybody would say could take that away//The flag is a symbol and a clear and instantly noticeable representation of America. Hijab, the Arabic word for head cover, is also a clear and instantly recognizable symbol for Islam. What better symbols to use//To take it up a notch I wanted to shoot the photo at the World Trade Center site... I remember getting all types of weird looks and a few sly comments while shooting, “What are they doing?” or “You can’t use a flag like that.” I was a New Yorker, the subject Munira was a New Yorker, we are both Muslim, the city was ours, the nation was ours, the religion was ours. There was no separating all those facts as many tried and still try to do//Fast forward to 2016 and the presidential election and the new circus of old rhetoric. The image once again holds strong meaning and a place in the discussion. I was approached by The Amplifier Foundation about the “We The People” campaign they were planning on doing using art to make a statement on Inauguration day 2017. I sent a variety of images that represent my people to be used, but of course this was to be the image picked to be converted by illustrator and graphic designer Shepard Fairey of Obey of the Obama HOPE campaign fame... I ask you share & use the image as you please on social media. Tweet it, Instagram it, Facebook it, Blog it. All I ask is you properly credit as such anytime you use either one: Photography by: Ridwan Adhami @RidzDesign • Illustration by: Shepard Fairey @obeygiant for @amplifierfoundation" #womensmarch #WeThePeople #aregreaterthanfear #ridzdesign #obeygiant