It was the middle of the night in Khartoum, Sudan, in the north of Africa.The government had been taken over by the military, a coup d’etat. Everyone was told to stay inside after curfew or be arrested. The streets were empty, except for the military police posted at checkpoints. A heavily pregnant mother knew the rules but her baby was ready to be born — she had to make a run for the hospital. Her husband bundled her into the car and stepped on the gas, weaving through backstreets…. 

“What are you doing out?” the police asked, stopping the couple’s car. The man pointed to his wife in labor… and the police waved him into the hospital.

A few hours later — already an exception to the rule — a rebel named Yassmin Abdel-Magied was brought into the world. 

<THEME MUSIC>

I’m Jan Fran. And this is Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

A fairy tale podcast about the real-life rebel women who inspire us. 

On this episode, we’re learning about Yassmin Abdel-Magield – an engineer, writer and activist – who is never afraid to fight for justice, and shows us that our differences can be our superpower.

<END THEME MUSIC>

After Yassmin was born in 1991, her parents decided they couldn’t bring up their little girl in Sudan. The military’s restrictions against women meant she wouldn’t have the freedom to choose her own path in life, and they wanted her to be able to do what she wanted. So pretending to visit relatives in Egypt, they slipped over the border with a couple of suitcases and started the long journey to build a new home with the help of some friends in Australia.

Growing up in the tropical city of Brisbane, life was very different for Yassmin. She had a difficult time adjusting to people’s accents and she felt like she stuck out, just for being herself. Yassmin wore a hijab or headscarf for her Islamic faith, which many people outside of her community didn’t understand. After the September 11 attacks in America, confusion became aggression. Her mosque in Brisbane was burned down and policemen had to guard her school. 

By the time Yassmin reached high school, it felt like teachers and administrators paid more attention to her hijab than to her good grades. School after school told Yassmin’s parents they would only admit her if she removed her head scarf. Yassmin refused. Her faith was important to her, and her parents hadn’t left Sudan to compromise their beliefs. Finally, one school principal respected her values and only asked that her hijab be the same color as the school uniform. This made Yassmin the first student in the school’s history to wear the hijab. 

Yassmin felt like standing up for her beliefs got more important to her every day. During her time in high school, she attended protests for human rights and co-founded a group called Youth Without Borders. They ran fundraisers for libraries in Indonesia, and encouraged girls and people from low-income families to become engineers. Yassmin was awarded Queensland’s Young Australian of the Year for her charity work. And she learned that  even though she didn’t look or sound like many of the people around her, she was a vital part of her community.

In fact, her differences were often the reason why she felt connected to a bigger cause.

Yassmin had a lot of interests outside of activism though. 

Like driving fast cars!

After watching a film about race car drivers, Yassmin decided she had to do that too. So she went to university to study engineering, and learn how race cars work. There was a special course on race cars in the United Kingdom she wanted to join, but she needed to save money first. So she took an engineering job in remote Australia fixing the machinery on oil rigs. 

It was dangerous work, and challenged Yassmin a lot, but she loved it. Out on the oil rigs, she was the only woman and often the only Black person. The men who worked alongside her had rarely met someone who was Muslim or from Africa, and they often asked why she took her prayer mat out into the bush to pray three times a day. When she was fasting for Ramadan, they made sure she felt healthy and strong. She may have been different, but the men respected how good she was at her job. Yassmin started a blog to share the funny conversations she had at work, and was invited to speak on radio and television about her experiences. She loved sharing her thoughts and opinions on the news — she was good at it and felt it was important for young Muslims to have a voice in the media.
Little did she know these appearances would launch her into a new form of rebelhood.

Yassmin had a lot to say — about the world and the way humans treat each other; about inclusivity, and honoring all kinds of faith. And the more she spoke out, the more people listened. Soon, she took a big risk and quit her engineering job so she could focus solely on her media career. 

Yassmin got a job on television hosting the Australian Broadcast Corporation, wrote a book about her life story, and wrote articles about what it was like to be Muslim in Australia. She could see herself making a real difference.

But standing up for what you believe in isn’t always easy. As Yassmin’s media presence grew, so did her critics. One day, she posted on social media about the way she felt refugees were mistreated. The public reaction was almost immediate. Even after Yassmin took the post down, she was shunned and accused of terrible things. The country that had once felt so warm and welcoming to her now felt cold and lonely.  

Hoping to get her mind off things, Yassmin attended a writers conference in London. While she was there, she realized maybe a fresh start in a new place was exactly what she needed. She thought about the courage it took for her parents to move across the globe and create a new life in Australia after she was born. Now, it felt like her turn to start anew — this time in London. 

Since she moved to London in 2017, Yassmin’s voice as an activist, speaker and writer has only gotten bolder. She’s written plays, television scripts and several children’s books, including one called ‘Stand Up and Speak Out Against Racism’ where she helps kids and adults have a better understanding of where racism began and how we can end it. She’s also hosted a podcast where she got to live her dream and drive a formula one race car! 

From engineer to TV personality and now as a full-time author, Yassmin always leads with her heart. She finds strength in speaking out for justice and valuing every person’s dreams. She knows what it feels like to be the only one in the room wearing a hijab or the only one shouting for change. And she believes that no matter how different we each feel, we are also connected. Our superpower as humans is to see and respect everyone as they are — and to celebrate our differences. 

This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It’s based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

This episode was narrated by me, Jan Fran. It was produced and directed by F+K Media, with sound design and mixing by F+K Media. 

The story was written by F+K Media and edited by Abby Sher. Fact checking by Joe Rhatigan. Our executive producers were Joy Smith and Jes Wolfe.

Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi.

A special thanks to the whole Rebel Girls team, who make this podcast possible! Until next time, staaaay rebel!