My friend Maysan Haydar has always been cool. She introduced me to Bratmobile and Swing dancing back when such things were hip. She got a tongue ring before everyone else. She was the first person I knew to dye her hair purple.
She escaped from Flint, majored in Linguistics and moved to NYC to write for The Nation. Now she’s a social worker. Oh. And she wears the hijab. Here’s an excerpt from an article she wrote for the book Body Outlaws
January 11th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Hey, who says swing isn’t hip!?! (sure it’s not mainstream - but that’s a dif issue)
And yes your friend does appear to be very cool and so does that book.
January 12th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Yup. No doubt about it. She’s WAY cool! Thanks for sharing,
Ginny
February 28th, 2006 at 12:39 am
Hi,
I found your site to be very informative and interesting. Your comments about social issues were enlightening. Also, it was a nice surprise to see Mayson on a website. We had a class together at UofM flint last semester.
April 27th, 2006 at 11:22 am
I am pleased to see Maysan is doing well for herself! We were great friends in high school and lost touch. You are right though–she was cool. She always had the best shoes, accessories, and of course, sense of humor. If you see her or talk to her, have her get in touch!
June 11th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
hey! thats my older sister!
October 9th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Maysan Haydar is nothing but cool. She folded most of the pages for my self published novel AND subletted my apartment while I went on a reading tour, which meant I could almost afford to go on a reading tour. She’s a great coworker and a great friend.
December 3rd, 2006 at 11:13 am
Maysan is my wonderful (and way cool) daughter in law. This was the first that I knew about her tongue ring, hmmmm. I adore her. She is also the mother of my first grandchild. I hope that she may pursue her writing soon. Maysan has so much to offer our world.
December 3rd, 2006 at 11:20 pm
I concur.
January 31st, 2007 at 8:21 pm
So I had never heard of Maysan Haydar before reading the essay ” Veiled Intention: Don’t judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering” by her in my English textbook. I thought it to be most excellent and a refreshing point of veiw. From what I gather this woman is very high on the scale of coolness. I wish the best luck with all of her writing endeavors.