All language subtitles for True Story s01e02 Yasmin.eng

- Stories.

- Since the dawn of time,

we've relied on stories
to entertain and enlighten.

- Be they tales
of adventure, love, loss,

or abject stupidity,

these sagas are passed down
through generations...

a grand catalog
of our collective experience.

- But what about
those epic stories

only shared among
a small circle of friends?

How do they achieve
the legendary status

they so richly deserve?

- By being told here.

- Welcome to the ultimate
chronicle of humanity.

- This is "True Story
with Ed & Randall."

[dramatic music]

Good evening
and welcome to "True Story,"

the show we agreed to host

knowing nothing about the
stories we're about to hear.

- That's right, Ed, we have
been hermetically sealed.

These are all true stories
from real people across America

that we'll be hearing
for the first time.

And you will too.

- We do know one thing though,

and that is the name of the
person sitting across from us.

Hello, Yasmin.
- Hi, thank you so much.

- We are very excited
to hear your story.

Is it a story
that is going to scare us?

- You're going to be scared
of how cool I am.

- Okay.
- Yeah.

- What genre would you
call this story?

- I would call this a--a story
of personal development.

- So maybe like
at a video store,

this would be
in the self-help section.

- It's in
the self-help section.

Fo' sho'.
Inspirational, motivational.

- All right.
- Yes.

- I--I need some of that.
Let's go, let's get into this.

- So my father's Libyan.
He was in the Gaddafi regime.

Yeah, he was
a cabinet minister.

But he morally abstained
against him

and joined the opposition
movement against him,

and sought asylum in Egypt.

He moved to Egypt,
he met my mom,

and she was hot,
she was super cute.

And they dated for a year
till they got married.

And then they had
my brother and me.

- What is your life
like in Egypt?

Are you in--in an apartment?

- Yes, I live in an apartment.
It's--it's a beautiful life.

We have a two-bedroom
apartment.

We live in kind of the heart

of a part of Cairo
called District 7.

It's not like
"The Hunger Games,"

but it sounds like it.

- And at this point
in your life,

could you--you're a child.

- I'm a child, yeah.
- Could you feel the tension?

- No, there was no tension.
I thought I was Egyptian.

- Yeah.
- I had no idea I was Libyan.

What happened in 1989
is a pretty seismic event,

the Lockerbie bombings.

So there's actually
a book that's written

about the disappearance
of certain Libyans

that--from Egypt.

It's that event that actually
led to my father saying, "Okay,

my friend got disappeared.
We have to leave right now."

- Libyans in Egypt--
- Yes.

- At this time
are just disappearing.

- They're disappearing.

- And a friend of
your father's disappeared.

- Correct.
- Wow.

- So--
- Yes.

- So what was 'right now'?

- Right then and there,
my parents told me

we're going on "vacation."

Vacation, here we come.

- First, I'm going
to do the Waterslide.

Then I'm going to drink
a Shirley Temple.

- My brother,
who is like my best friend,

he's, you know,
five years older than me,

so, you know,
he was--he was nine.

So he kind of knew
a little bit more

about what's going on.

- I don't think we're going

to Sandals Jamaican
all-inclusive resort after all.

- He was helping--
- Yes.

- With this thought that
this is gonna be fun.

This is a vacation.
- This'll be fun.

We'll be back.
We're not gonna go to school.

'Cause we were both
in the same, like, school.

I was in preschool at the time.

And he was--he was like
in elementary school.

We--we went to the same school.

- And there was no question

as to why there was
just one briefcase?

Why he's probably carrying you,
rushing you out the door?

- Literally.
Literally.

And we had like two bags,
and we left.

- Wow.
- But the whole time--

From--from Egypt
to the United States...

- Yes.

- You're just like looking out
the window of the car,

like what a fun vacation.

- Yes, like we went to Jordan.

We went to Morocco, and
he would take us to carnivals.

He would take us to fairs.

We went to Saudi Arabia.
We went to the U.K.

We were all trying
to seek asylum.

- This is such a heroic
parental effort, I mean--

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- For a parent to be
that rattled

and trying to keep security
and safety for their children.

That's...
- Beautiful.

- That's amazing.

- My parents are both
like my heroes,

and especially, like, my--my
mom, she gave up her family.

She gave up everything.

She gave up the life
that she knew

so that she could support
my father.

And my father gave up
the riches, the wealth,

the security, everything,
to do what was right.

And that has been
all the difference in my life.

- Describe your dad.

- Loving, warm.
Extremely spontaneous.

- Extremely spontaneous.
- Sounds like it.

- Okay, so we are moving to--

vacationing in America.

- Major ADHD.
[mouths] Like me.

- Yeah.
- Loyal.

Loyal, loyal, loyal,
loyal to the tee.

- So he's a good guy.

- Super good guy.
Moral, adaptable.

You put him in any situation,
he'll figure it out.

- We need to find
the best place

for an immigrant family to go.

USA, here we come.

- And by this time,

we had been
on the move for five years.

Are we there yet?

- Just a couple more hours.

- [sighs]
- I hope.

- And the whole time still,
what a crazy vacation.

- Yeah, and I'm like,
"This is a crazy vacation."

- It will be worth it
when we get there.

I've got the perfect spot.

Best place for immigrants
in the U.S.

Huntsville, Alabama.

[light music]

- So you make the move.

- So we make
to Huntsville, Alabama.

Is it like New York?
- Or is it more like Hollywood?

- Yes, like
a very New York-ish Hollywood.

- It's a culture shock.

People looked at me
like I was an alien.

There was no one that was,
like, visibly Muslim.

So I wore a headscarf
when I was eight years old

because I felt like
it was beautiful.

Like, I felt like it was

the way that I wanted
to present myself as a woman.

It was me and then Asmah.

But they called her Asthma
in school, yeah.

And then my name
is Yasmin.

Yeah, but they call me Yasma.
For like a whole year.

- Just because it sounded
like asthma?

- Yeah, it was, like,
there's Asthma,

and there's her sister Yasma.

We were the only two
in middle school

that wore a headscarf,
or were Muslim for that matter.

- It clearly felt like
you were being bullied.

- And I had, like,
literally two other friends

I talked to
kind of on regular basis.

- Where's your brother
at this point?

- So my brother is just going
into high school at this point.

- Okay.

- And he's having kind of
a brutal time of it.

His name is Hussein,
so he was bullied pretty badly.

"Saddam Hussein"
was still like,

you know, a character
that people made fun of.

- Yeah.

- So my parents,
they would--they made us

watch the USA Network

because they thought it would
get us to be American faster.

- Yasmin, Hussein.

Remember, you have to be you,

but you also have
to learn to be American.

And what better way than USA?

[dramatic music from TV]

- I don't know if you guys
watched it at that time,

but at 7:00 in the morning,
every morning,

was WWF wrestling.

announcer: Here comes
Hulk Hogan and the Macho Man.

- So those were like my heroes.

You know what I mean,
Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage,

"Hitman" Hart,
even The Undertaker.

He's a little goth,
but you know.

- I mean, this is--

This is a really accurate
introduction to America.

For sure, for sure.
- Yes, I think so.

Well, I really thought
that, like, Americans--

it was, like, perfect.
I'll just connect this way.

Like, I'll just hit someone
with a two-by-four.

Like this is
how friends are made.

- Yeah, are made.

- And then I--I, like,
got to school

and I--there was a girl,
her name was Theresa.

This really happened.
I got on top of the desk.

Friendship!

[distorted
slow motion screaming]

'Cause I thought
we could be friends,

I body-slammed Theresa
to the floor.

- No.
- Yes.

- What?
- And she was like,

"Why?
Why, Yasmin? Why?"

And I was like, "I don't know.
I can't hear you.

Oh, yeah!"
- "Oh, yeah."

- And I got sent
to the principal's office.

- Sure.
- Yeah.

- Now, I don't know
how they do things over there

where you're from.

But here
in Huntsville, Alabama,

when we wish to make friends
with someone,

we do so by shaking their hand.

- So we don't wrestle as--

- I'm like, "Is that not
how we become friends?"

- We do not wrap our legs
around them.

We do not put them
in a half nelson.

- But on the USA Network,
they--

- I love wrestling
as much as the next person.

It is a known fact,
I would leave my husband

in an instant
for Macho Man Randy Savage.

But I'm worried
the other students

are starting to find it
a little, um...

horrifying.
Okay?

"Is that understood, brother?"
Like Macho Man.

- Yes, Mrs. Principal.

There was this one guy
at school who was a bully.

His name was Ryan.

One day I find out that he said
that I--I was a "rag-head."

He called me a "rag-head."
I didn't even know him.

Like, I didn't understand it,
but there was these two girls

that were kind of
walking towards the lunch room,

and they turned back
and they were like,

"Well, it's just like Ryan
called you a rag-head.

And like, we agree."
I was like,

"Why would Ryan
say that?"

- Because you have a--
- Nope! Nope. No.

I know what he's saying.

I just don't know
why he would say it about me.

I don't even know that dude.

- Beats me,
but don't feel so bad.

'Cause guess what.
He made fun of Carol too.

[punchy music]

- He made fun of Carol?

So Carol was
the only Jewish girl

in our entire middle school,

and she always wore
a Star of David

to represent
that she was Jewish

and in--in pride
of her Jewish heritage.

And he had called her
a racial epithet.

And he'd said,
"Oh, her stupid Star of David."

It was in that moment
that I felt like I actually

could have a voice for myself
because I was so incensed

by the fact that he would go
after this girl.

- After Carol.
- After Carol.

- But he went after you,
but your--your--

what really triggered your rage
was that he went after this--

- Yes.
- This other person.

- Yeah, literally.
I was like, "Not Carol!"

Like I got angry.
- Nobody messes with Carol.

- Nobody messes with Carol.

I was like,
she's so freaking nice.

Like, these people won't stop
until we stop them.

announcer:
Ladies and gentlemen,

that was the last straw.

- Nobody...messes with...Carol!

announcer: In this corner,
weighing-in at 93 pounds,

the Dixieland Libyan,
it's Yasmin.

Bully Ryan is going down.

[dramatic music]

- And no one's seen
this side of you before?

- No one's seen
this side of me.

- Have you seen
this side of you?

- I haven't even seen
this side of me.

- You haven't even seen
this side of you!

- It was like,
all I could hear was

my father's voice, like,

"Be you.
Do what's right.

Be you.
Do what's right."

- "Do what's right."
Like your dad did.

- Like my dad did.
He's always like, "Be you.

"Be unique.
Okay, you're different.

"You're unique.
Just do it.

Be you."
And I'm like...

- So my dad wanted me to really
lean into my uniqueness

and to just do
what was right, always.

- Which is so hard for a kid.

- Yeah.
- Yes.

- Like when you're a kid,
uniqueness is like a liability.

- It's a liability.
both: You just want to fit in.

- You want to be like
everybody else.

- But your dad's message
had sunk in--it was in there.

- I didn't even know
I had this power inside of me.

- Yeah.
- It was like I heard him.

And he was like...

- "You can't
spell unique without you.

"You can't spell 'you
are different' without you.

"Be unique. Be different.

"Just be.

Just do it.
Okay."

Okay, Yasmin, hey.

Psst!
Just do it.

- And I'm like, that's kind of
a Nike ad, Dad, but okay.

- Yeah.
- That's all right, I got it.

- So this Ryan guy.
- Yeah.

- Does he look like your--
your classic school bully?

- So he's tall
and kind of wiry.

He's imposing, he's mean.

- Uh-huh.
- So he kind of towered

over people,
but he's not a big guy.

I wouldn't say like,
he's like--was so--

- He's not an athlete, but
he hung out with the athletes.

- He hung out
with the athletes.

He's not really an athlete.

He hung out--he hung
out with them.

- Right.
- But he was mean.

So I go up there
to the lunchroom.

And he's sitting there,
and I take my tray, and I go--

And the whole lunchroom
goes, "Ooh."

- Ooh.

[food splashes]
all: Ooh.

- Oh, yeah, Ryan, brother--
you're not my brother-brother.

Hussein's my brother.
But that's besides the point.

My point is I heard that you've
been yapping your yapper.

Well, guess what?

I've got one of those too,
and what are you going to do

now that the Yas
is coming for you?

And his jaw starts kind of
coming a little loose.

He's like--
- It's that little jiggle?

- Oh, he's--he's shook.
- He started going--like this.

- Yeah, yeah.
And I was like, shut up, Ryan!

Keep those lips zipped,
brochacho,

and take a good look
into these eyes, brother,

because if I ever,
and I mean--

all: Ever!
Ever!

- Hear you disrespected
me, Carol,

or any other rootin'-tootin'
gal in this school,

you're going to have
to answer to this face.

The face of the Yas
coming for your ass!

all: Ooh!
- Ooh.

- It's like,
"We treat you with respect.

That's exactly what we deserve,
and expect in return, got it?"

He starts crying,
and everyone goes--

- He starts crying?
- And everyone, "Ooh."

And I take a napkin,
I throw it in his face

and I was like, "Clean yourself
off--you're embarrassing."

- Oh, that's a badass.
- Wait, what a tag.

all: [chanting] Yas! Yas! Yas!
Yas! Yas! Yas! Yas! Yas! Yas!

Yas! Yas! Yas! Yas!
Yas! Yas! Yas!

[wrestling bell chimes]

- And then they were like,
"Oh, my God,

"have you met
this new girl, Yasmin?

There's a new girl, Yasmin."
I'm like, it's just--it's me.

I've been here.

- I've been here
the entire time.

- Same Yasmin.
I've been here the entire time.

Yeah, so I got my respect.

I was like, put some respect
on my name!

- Yeah!
- It's Yasmin.

- And then from there on,
you were--you were Yasmin?

- So I felt strong like in my
middle school, after that time.

But then we went
to high school, and I kind of--

it felt like going back
down to the rung again

because there was
over 3,300 students

and I start getting bullied
from day one.

- Even the middle schoolers
who had...

- Yes.

- You know,
learned to respect you

were suddenly
turning on you.

- It was like literally
starting from ground up.

I was super smart.
So I was like, geeky and weird.

- What was your style
at this time?

What did--what did you--

- Oh man, I was wearing, like,

jeans and, like, an oversized
T-shirt every single day.

I was so focused
on getting out of Alabama.

- Like a XXXL T-shirt.
- XXXL T-shirt.

But then September 11th
happened,

and when September 11th
happened, I was 15.

So I was a junior
in high school.

And in that moment,
I couldn't hide anymore.

- Yeah.
- Part of wearing that big

oversized T-shirt
and the jeans is to just...

- Hide.
- Hide so I could be focused.

But I realized
that there was no hiding.

And I had to prove that I was

American, loyal, worthy.

- But you shouldn't
have to prove.

- But that's the reality.

I think when
you're a minority...

- Of course.

- And you live
in a--in a situation

that people that represent you
did something terrible

and you now,
you have to pay for that.

- Right.

- And when I got home,
my parents,

they were feeling
intense sadness and guilt.

Hey, Mom.
- Hey, there.

[somber music]

- You look intensely sad.

- Well, today's been
a very sad day.

- And it must be a very,
very hard time for you

and Hussein too.

- I'm fine.
- [sighs]

Yasmin, uh...

God is vast.
God is merciful, okay?

You know how
I always say just do it?

Well, now the "it"
is your headscarf...

And the "just do"

is take it off.

I'm sorry.

- And in this moment,
I couldn't believe it.

It was weird to see
my dad like this.

'Cause my dad was the most like
moral, straightforward,

caring, but also spiritually
connected person I knew.

Like I remember I would call
him sometimes like, "Hey, Dad."

He would just be like,
"The cosmos."

And he would hang up the phone
in my face would be like--

He was like spiritual.

It'd be like,
"Hey, Dad, how's it going?"

He'd be like, "Know your place
in the universe."

You know, even when I got
a scholarship, I was like,

"Hey, Dad, I got a scholarship,
like, to cover my books."

He'd be like, "Oh, you're
so great; God is greater."

- That's kind of
a mystical move.

- Yes.
- Just--it gets you thinking.

- Yes.
- You can't even ask questions.

- They're spiritual phone byes
is what I call them.

- They're just little pearls
of spiritualism dropped in.

- Yes.

- I'd imagine it's tough
for the entire family,

tough for everyone, but
to be a kid in high school...

- Yeah.
- I mean, they were--

they were very aware

that you were definitely
gonna have it really bad.

- Yes, I was like, "Dad,

"I don't know--I don't know
who's going to speak

for Muslim women if I don't
speak for Muslim women."

- Wow.
- Like what's on TV?

Blue and black blobs?

Like we have no representation
of Muslim women.

Like if I don't speak up,
who will?

Who will take my voice?
He was like really quick.

He kind like looked off
into the distance.

He was like, "Oh, I knew
you were my daughter."

[laughter]

And then he was like--
- You will run for president.

- Me?
Or Hussein?

- Definitely not Hussein.
You.

You, my daughter,
will run for president. Ha.

[heroic fanfare]

* *

- I was like, "Dad,
I was born in Cairo."

There's a constitution.
That's not going to work.

I can't run for president.

[heroic fanfare]

* *

- Then you will run
for president

of your class.
Yes?

- I couldn't be like, "No, Dad,
I'm not doing that."

I was like, "Yeah, Dad.
Rise to the occasion.

Here we go.
Let's do this."

- So he went from
"You don't have to wear..."

- Right.
- "Your headscarf."

- Yes.
- To--

- To seeing me strong.

- To seeing you
and all your power,

and then suddenly being like,

"Oh, yes,
you will be president."

- Yes.
Of your class.

- But at this time
when you don't have the votes.

- No, I don't have the votes,
Randall.

I'm the only Muslim.
I'm the only Muslim.

I'm the only one
who wears a headscarf

in a sea
of over 3,300 students.

It was like, it's time to--
it's time to stand

on your own two feet, Yasmin.

It's like
it's time to put all of that

into practice, into action.

- Which is--which is
a huge risk at this time.

- Huge risk.
- Yeah.

- And so I, like,
go over to this other room.

My brother's just like looking
at me in the other room,

Hussein,
And he's like--

- Dad told me you promised
to run for class president?

I know you're smart and all,
but that's pretty stupid.

- I know, I know.

Okay, I don't know
what I'm going to do.

I need you to help me.

- This seems like
a Yasmin problem.

- Please.
Please, just come on.

- It's going to be ugly.

- I'm like, "Come on, man.
I need your help."

He's like, "Okay, well,
who--who's your opponent?

Do you know anyone
who's running?"

I'm like,
"Yeah, there's one guy

"who's announced, since August,
that he was going to be

"the senior class president,

and his name was Mike Green."

So Mike Green
was a triple threat.

He played football,
basketball.

He ran track.

He was 6'2".
He had aced the ACTs.

He already got early decision
into Duke,

to be like
a scholar-athlete, pre-med.

- Outta my way, wimps.

Whoever makes eye contact
gets punched.

- He was mean.
People were scared of him.

Every girl wanted to date him.
Every guy wanted to be him.

That was Mike Green.
And he was like,

"I'm going to be
student class president, guys.

"I just want you guys to know

I'm going to throw
the best prom."

He was like making all these,
like, promises to people.

He is the quintessential
American hero from high school.

- He sounds like--like
high school royalty.

- Yes, he was diabolical.

He just announced
that he's going to be president

before anyone even voted.

- Sounds like a good ol' boy.
He's everything you're not.

- Yeah.
Yeah, thank you.

- Listen, you've got
to do the thing

no one else in school can do,
something that sets you apart.

- Right, okay.
Like, wear a headscarf.

Yes.
Check.

- No, you're gonna rap
your election speech.

- You're going
to rap your election speech?

- What?

- That's what you're
going to do.

- What?
- We do it all the time.

- Yeah, no.
We do it in private

where we make up these silly
little raps for each other.

I can't rap battle Mike Green
in front of the entire school.

- Who said anything
about battle?

He's not gonna know
that you're doing this.

You're just going to be
dissing him one way.

You'll be the only one
waging war.

- And I'm like, I don't think
we should be

talking about waging war right
now, Hussein, but okay.

I employed the help
of a young man named Mark,

who I was tutoring,
who was best friends with Mike.

both: Oh!
- To cut the music, to do this.

He mixed the music.

He was like a Napster guy.
So he was like--

- I got you, girl.
I hook my tutors up.

We'll mix this up in a jiffy.
Watch this.

- How quick is a jiffy?
[dial-up tone whirring]

- Uh, we may have to
leave it on overnight.

And if Mike Green asks,
I was never here, girl.

- Where's your head at?

Are you feeling really--is this
something that takes a lot of,

like, a lot of courage
to muster up,

or are you just kinda like,
yeah, I'm doing this?

- No, no, no, no, no.
I am sweating out of my mind.

- Yeah.

- All I'm doing is thinking
about messing up on stage

in front of thousands of kids.

All I can think about

is ruining any semblance
of respect I had.

I thought about
also like--I'm kind of

like "representing"
something bigger than me,

so I really gotta get
this right.

- So, where are you
in the process now?

You--you're working
on the speech.

Is there campaigning happening?
- Yes, there is.

So I really try to lean in
to me being different.

So I start putting up slogans,
like, you know,

like "Rising Muslim Star,"
like very clear.

Like I am a rising Muslim star.

- Right.

- You know, vote for me.
My name was El Hottie.

Yasmin Elhady is my name.

So they call me El Hottie.

Like H-O-T-T-I-E.
- Yeah.

- Yeah, so I made like, "Vote
for El Hottie," you know.

And then I'd have
like flames and stuff.

Like she's lit.
She's on fire.

I also really thought very
carefully about the slogans

because I wanted to approach
the single-most powerful

voting bloc at our school--
the cheerleaders.

- A lot of influence there too.
- Yeah.

- Hugely influential.

- So did you have any ins
with the cheerleaders before

or were they just--
- Funny, you should ask.

So one of the cheerleader's
boyfriends in middle school

decided to pinch
my butt in class,

and I slapped him super hard.

And he couldn't believe
that I did that.

And I was like, "Don't you ever
touch a woman like that.

And I'm sure your girlfriend
wouldn't like that very much."

- Just so happened,
she was a cheerleader.

So she had always remembered
that I stood up for women.

- Yeah!
- And that I stood up for her.

So she had remembered that.
Okay.

So I went to the cheerleaders
where they practiced.

Hey guys, you know me, I'm
running for class president.

- Oh, yeah, we heard.
Good luck.

It's going to be, like, really
hard to win against Mike Green.

- "We all have crushes
on Mike."

- Literally, they were like,
"We all kind of want

to date him because, you know,
he's cute or whatever."

Okay, listen, let's talk.

Mike Green's going to be busy
with sports, track,

probably dating you guys.

I will be your friend.

I will be here
to listen to you,

woman to woman.
Isn't that better?

- Women supporting women?

Oh, I am here for this.
What can we do?

- How about this?

What if you guys
tried being me for a day?

They were like,
"Oh, like real smart and weird.

Like a weirdo?"

- You mean like a
Freaky Friday situation? Sure.

- Yeah. No.

I was thinking more so
wouldn't it be cool

if you guys wore a headscarf
to school like me?

They were like,
"Huh. Look like you?

"Like all like wrapped up
like in a bow,

like a little present?"

Like, yeah.
Like a little present.

Wouldn't that be--wouldn't
that be weird,

but also really cool
and different?

- Can we wear, like,
colorful ones?

- Yeah, any color you want.

- What about purple?
- Oh, 100%.

That is so your color.
- Okay, we're in.

Back to practice, ladies.

- You're a genius.
- Thank you, thank you so much.

- This is a genius move.
- Thank you, thank you.

So I put slogans
on the back of the headscarves.

It's like, "Can't scarf this."

"Scarf it down."
"Scarf girl to the rescue."

"It's getting hot in here,
so put on a scarf."

You know what I mean?

[upbeat music]

* *

So this was a really important
campaign move on my part.

- How is Mike Green
campaigning at this point?

- He had like posters up.

It was like
"Mike Green for president.

"I'll--I'll serve you.

Mike Green for president.
You know me."

- "Mike Green for president,
idiots."

- Yeah, "Mike Green
for president, duh."

- Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.

[laughter]

- What happens
when you and Mike, like,

pass each other in the hall?

- What's the vibe?
- It's a little tense.

It's a little tense.

- You're going down.

[spaghetti Western music]

- I will bury you.

* *

No one on the teams
would even talk to me.

Like, no jocks.

Like, nobody on any of
the athletic teams would even,

like, make eye contact with me.

- So all of the tension
from the 9/11 aftermath--

- Yeah.

- How is that feeling
at this time?

- There was a couple students
who did tear down my posters,

especially the ones about
like "Rising Muslim Star."

- Yeah.

- And I had a conversation
with them.

And I just said, "Look, like,

"you can disagree
with me all you want,

but you--you can't
tear down my posters."

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- He's like,
"Well, I just think like,

"why are you like
being all Muslim about it?

Like don't you know
what just happened?"

I'm like, "What just happened
has nothing to do with me.

"It just doesn't.

"And me being Muslim
is my identity,

"and I'm proud of my identity,

and it defines
the good stuff about me."

- You were dealing with it.
- I was dealing with it.

- Face-to-face.
both: Head on.

- Head on.
Yeah.

So I've been--
I had been practicing,

so I felt really confident.

- Today's the day?
- Today is the day.

- Kick Mike Green's ass.
Ha!

- So you give your speeches
on the day of the election.

- We give our speeches
on the day of the election,

and we find out the results
the next day.

- Right, so this--
this speech is crucial.

- Speech is really crucial.
It's a Tuesday.

But Monday is the day
that all the cheerleaders

came in--in the headscarves.
- Yes. Yes. Yeah.

- Wow.
- I'm stunting.

Feeling myself a little bit.
You know what I'm saying?

- Yeah, yeah, your
polling numbers are rising.

- I feel like it was--
I was like,

"Now this is
a political maneuvering."

But I also knew that I had
to get through the speech.

- This is what it all
comes down to.

- I got two minutes.
It's Tuesday.

I got two minutes
in front of thousands of kids.

I can't mess this up.

- Are you as nervous
as I am right now?

- Oh, my God.
Well, let me tell you.

I wore like a shirt dress

because I wanted to look
like a mogul, you know?

But I had sweated
straight through it.

[intense music]

* *

- You're just dripping--
just drenched.

- Yeah,
and Mike Green looks at me.

And he's like, "Good luck."
- Describe the assembly.

- It's a big auditorium.

And we have a stage,
a wooden stage.

And the auditorium
sat probably...

I want to say like a thousand--

- Packed.
- Packed.

- Does anyone know
what you're going to do?

- No one has any idea what I'm
going to do except for Mark.

I'm wearing a white headscarf.

I also was wearing
a little ski cap.

And on the ski cap
was a little piece of paper

that I had to safety pin.
It said, MC Yasmin.

And then I had made
a tinfoil chain

with like music notes on it
and was like,

"Yo, yo, yo. Yasmin."
- Okay.

So people know something's up.
- Something's up.

- Who's at the podium
at this point?

Is it the--the principal?

- Principal's at the podium
introducing us,

and I'm about to walk up.

[indistinct chatter
from students]

- All right, Tigers.

This is the moment
we have all been waiting for.

Now, you know that saying,
"It's not, if you win or lose,

it's how you play the game."

Well, that is
completely not true.

Winning is everything.
Remember that.

If you fail in high school,

it will haunt you
the rest of your life.

Trust me, I lost my bid
for high school president,

and it--it ruined me.

Ah,
but enough about my problems.

We have here our candidates.

And let's meet the first one.

Bless her heart,
she's going to lose.

But let's give her a big hand,
shall we?

Yas-meen.
[scattered applause]

- I kind of go up there
with a swagger,

and people are like...
[gasps]

Or they're already
kind of laughing.

- Which is what you want.

- And so I put the boom box
at the edge of the stage,

and I hit play.

[hip-hop music]

* Yasmin, Yasmin, baby *

* *

* Yasmin, Yasmin,
baby, non-stop *

* I infiltrate
while I listen *

* School's coming back
with an important election *

* School,
it's teaching me right *

* Ask me any questions,
I won't bite *

* White is the color
of my scarf *

* Green is the color
when you barf *

crowd: Oh!

- Nice.
- Yes.

- Yes!
- And "green is the color

when you barf."
- Barf.

Barf, vomit!

You are vomit.
You are vomit, man.

- And what's the look
on his face?

Yeah.
- [laughing]

No one has ever
called him vomit before.

- No one has ever
called him out, period.

And the crowd st--well,
they went wild.

They were like, "Oh, damn!"

crowd: Oh!

[music continues]

- * Welcome to high school
where the students say *

* We go out to the flagpole
if we want to pray *

* Wanna skip, take a pic
because the gods are roamin' *

* And the gates be closed
after 8:00 in the morning *

[cheering and applause]

* I've got to win *

* So you better
get this voting started *

* Get this voting
started on a Tuesday *

* If it was the principal,
you'd be here all day *

* He talks way too long
on the intercom *

* Every word he says
just comes out all wrong *

crowd: Oh!

- You dissed the principal?
- I dissed the principal.

- Whoa!
- He deserves to be dissed.

- And then
people started getting--

the cheerleaders were like,
"Oh, my God!"

- Wow.

- And the place erupts.

[triumphant music]

* *

- Whoo!

So then Mike Green
goes up there to do his speech.

And he was like crying.

He was crying.
- He was crying?

Of course he was.
- No way.

- He was crying.

- [sighs]

[feedback screeches]

- He's like, "I'm Mike Green.
And, uh, you know.

"I don't know why you really
should vote for me.

I'm going to vote
for her too."

[all gasping]

- What!
- Yes!

- He endorsed you?
- Yes!

Yes!
- Wow.

- How the mighty have fallen.

- Oh, my God.
- Yes.

- Amazing.

[triumphant music]

* *

[scattered applause]

- So I get home,
and I had the boom box.

Right as I enter my home,

the boom box actually falls
and breaks.

- This seems like an omen.

- So you're saying
it went badly?

- No.
No, no, it went really well.

I think I--I think
I did really well.

- So you're saying you won?
- No.

No, I'm saying
it wasn't a disaster.

I don't know yet.

- When will you know?
When will you know?

- Tomorrow.
I'll know tomorrow!

He was like, "Okay.
All right.

"All right, it's fine.

"I'm excited.
You're good.

Doesn't matter
if you win or lose."

- It doesn't matter,
but I'm kind of, uh, invested.

- Hey, whatever happens,
I'm proud of you,

and you owe me a new boom box.

- My eyes were like, wide open

when the alarm goes off
at like 6:30.

I get myself ready
to go to school.

I go to school,
and I'm in homeroom,

the principal on the--on
the intercom, he's like--

"Good morning, Tigers.

"We got some new presidents
and vice presidents,

"and secretaries.
And what else?

"Wait, and treasurers,
apparently.

I've got a note here."

- "I had some scrambled eggs
for breakfast.

"Now, my wife makes them
a little runny for my taste.

But I ate them anyway,
and then I drove to school."

Get to the point!
- Exactly!

I'm at like
the edge of my chair.

He just was like--

"And here we go.

"Your next year's
class president...

is Miss Yasmin Elhady."

all: Yay!

[cheers and applause]

- The homeroom erupts.

Erupting!
Everyone stands up.

They all clap. They were like,
"You deserve it.

You deserve it.
You're amazing."

I was like, "Oh, my God.
Thank you guys so much."

- Wow.

- All of senior year,
me and Mike Green have lockers

on top of each other.
- Yeah.

- Top locker, bottom locker
for all senior year.

- Yeah.
- He was 6'2".

Guess who had the top locker?

- Can I just get some--
- No.

- So you get home that night.

- So I get home, and my dad
is like, "Okay, what do we got?

What do we got?
What do we got?"

- It was a landslide victory.
I won!

- That's my girl!
I knew you were my daughter.

Yay!

- But second of all,
he was like,

"You, my beautiful daughter,

are worth a thousand sons."

- Ohh...
- He gave me a big hug.

- I love that.
- And he made it worth it.

That's the best part.
I mean, I'm proud.

And, um,

and he was, um...

he still is, like, the
most major figure in my life.

- Yeah.

- And I know I would've
never done it without him.

- How did that win
set up your life?

- So I feel like that win

really made me believe
in human beings,

in collective humanity.

It made me believe in myself,

that I think that
if I could strategize,

if I could problem-solve,
I'd be just fine.

- Yeah.
- So I feel like that set me up

for making sure that I could
put out my wings, jump.

And if I fly, great.
And if I fall on my face,

I'll get back up
and it'll be just fine.

I ended up going off to Cairo,
going back to where I was born,

and going to
the American embassy in Cairo

to do a graduate fellowship
in Arabic.

And it just taught me
a lot about like,

oh, like there's no difference
between my story

or this person's story.

Like, it just so happens
that I was born into a family

that came to the United States
and had this life,

but I could've just as easily
been a poor child

in the street begging.
- Yeah.

- And it really inspired me
to want to go to law school

and, like, fight
for people's rights.

I was shaky on my own,

but if I was fighting for
someone else, I felt strong.

I felt that
we could stand together.

- Wow.
- So that made me feel like

I needed to be a part of,

you know, a legal education

that could help empower people,
protect people.

I work in public service,

and a big part of me running
for that first election

was me being part of the--
the governing structure.

- Amazing.

- That's the story, guys.
- I am blown away.

- You are an incredible person.
- Thank you.

- Thank you for
taking us on this

incredible journey with you.
- Yeah.

- * Are you gonna
make it happen today? *

* Or will you just settle
for another delay? *

* Come on,
you gotta make it happen now *

* Come on, you gotta make it
happen now *

* Said, are you gonna
wait and sit on your hands? *

* Or will you go
and start making out *

* A list of demands? 'Cause
you can make it happen *

- * Yasmin, Yasmin, baby *

- * Start attacking,
don't lose out on the action *

* Hey!
Seek the path *

* Reach and grab all the right
things that you need to have *

* Don't wait in good faith *

- * School's coming back
with a brand new election *

* This school got
ahold of me tight *

* Ask me any questions,
I won't bite *

- * Now is the time,
lay it all on the line *

* When you break through
the wall in your mind *

* Whatever's occurred,
that's the past *

* Don't lose the courage
when I have to ask *

* Are you gonna
make it happen today?

- * White is the color
on my scarf *

* Green is a color
when you barf *

- * Light fuse, ignite
and move, why refuse? *

* 'Cause if you really believe
you want it to be *

* More than a dream, you got
to turn it into reality *

* So you gotta
make it happen now *

* Come on,
gotta make it happen now *

* Come on, you gotta make it
happen now *

* Whoo! *

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