Born a Kakuma refugee in Kenya, Model Halima Aden is redefining the culture definition of beauty.
The stunning somali-american woman is more than a fashion model, but an activist empowering women to embrace their own beauty. She is living proof of a woman brave enough to break through traditional barriers to becoming an international sensation.
Halima at the rightful age of 22 is the personification of a game changer. She is the first Muslim homecoming queen at Apollo High School; the first student senator at St. Cloud State University; the contestant in a pageant Miss Minnesota USA to wear a burkina and hijab; the first hijab wearing woman to appear on the cover of top beauty publications such as Allure, British Vogue and now Essence Magazine’s January/February 2020 Issue.
It’s important for me to be visible and to do whatever I can to let girls know that they don’t have to change who they are,” she said to writer Jeannine Amber. I want them to know the world will meet them exactly where they stand. www.essence.com
Essence Magazine enter 2020 a New Year and a New Decade Breaking the Mold in the taste of hot pink celebrating the diversification of ALL women of color.
Photograph of Halima by JD Barnes
