Shamima Lone stands with her mother at Miss Crab on Ponsonby Rd in Auckland, New Zealand. It is one week after the Christchurch terror attack. Later it would be confirmed 51 men, women and children were shot dead as they prayed on Al-Jumah, meaning the day of congregation, and Friday in Arabic. For Muslims, it is a holy day. The shooter would become the first person ever to go to prison for life in New Zealand, without parole. He will not be named here, but it is clear he picked that day with hate in mind; streaming the shooting live on Facebook. The youngest shot, just three-years-old. In Auckland, encompassed in the shell-shock from New Zealand’s southern island, women of all ethnicities sort fashion to show solidarity with New Zealand’s Islamic community. Worldwide, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern received criticism and praise for putting on a headscarf. At Miss Crab, Shamima was part of a team put together by The Love Movement, an Auckland based fundraising organisation that aids communities hit by devastating events like the shooting or the Indonesian earthquakes. On their event page, they wrote, “Our Muslim sisters have spoken to us of the discrimination they still face while wearing a hijab and the elevated fear they have been experiencing simply leaving the house with their hair covered.. In abundance, Shamima, her mother and women from the Auckland Muslim community donated scarves to the cause. Something special Shamima’s mum was able to gift women who came to the #headscarfsforharmony event, was the knowledge of Noor. Meaning ‘the light’, it is said to be the glow that radiates from the face when a woman wears a hijab. Shamima’s sister-in-law, Rebekah Bristow said at Miss Crab, “For Shamima, when she’s wearing a headscarf or a hijab, she’s had a lot of racist remarks and been discriminated against. “It’s important for us non-Muslim white women to really acknowledge the ease at which we can wear this,” Rebekah said. Rebekah Bristow and Shamima Lone, Miss Crab Ponsonby, March 2018It is March 2018, New Zealand’s staunch attitude that “racism does not exist here” is about to be exposed for the lie it is. So violent in its silence, racist people here, will smile in your face while they insult you, these are the type of scenarios Shamima has lived through. Born in Auckland, at 38, these days she does not wear a hijab unless it is to a funeral. “I wore a hijab from 14 to when I got married at 22, then after I got divorced I transitioned out of it wearing hats and stuff like that. “I just wanted to experience a different kind of experience. Back in those days, as soon as someone non-Muslim meets you, that’s all they want to know about you. The conversation is never around anything other than your religion or headscarf, you’re just so absolutely seen as that person. “Auckland uni can be quite isolating, you just go to classes with 100s of people and you don’t get to chill with anyone. I’d catch my bus from Queen St. People would just come up and scream shit at me at the university, like terrorist or whatever. It was so hard.” “Yeah, it was a very depressing period of my life.” Just before Covid-19 2020, Shamima married a Kiwi. He understood for Shamima to stay connected to her family, he’d need to convert to Islam, so he did. Shamima says for people of the Islamic faith, dating in New Zealand is a tricky ground. “You know you can’t date anyone, or hold hands with someone,” she said. “Growing up you’d have to date very respectful people who would try and understand where you’re coming from because I’m not trying to offend that person, I’m trying not to get in trouble with my family.” “We talked about it a lot, getting married would have to be in a way that my family would accept it because I thought about what it would be like if they were not to accept it and how I would be outcast and lose t