CAIRO – Putting on her yellow mortarboard over her hijab, Fatimata Deme, a first-generation Muslim African American, has graduated second in her class at Whitehaven High with honors to receive more than $4 million in academic scholarship offers.
“My goal was to be valedictorian,” Fatimata Deme, a first-generation Muslim African American Memphian and Whitehaven Tiger, told The Commercial Appeal.
Fatimata was born, raised and went to school in Memphis.
Her parents from Senegal, one of Africa’s model democracies and most stable countries, came to America in 1996 and to Memphis in 1997 seeking a better life for their children.
Crowning their efforts, Fatimata graduated on Saturday after completing her studies with a 4.4 grade-point average, good enough to give her the honor of being class salutatorian.
She took seven Advanced Placement classes. She made the National Honor Society and the National English Honor Society and received more than $4 million in academic scholarship offers.
“We are very proud of Fatimata and her education,” said her father, Baba Deme, the imam at Masjid Taqwa, the mosque on Winchester.
Stares
Despite being a very successful student, Fatimata used to get stares at her hijab, feeling that she was judged by what she wears.
As she got over it, students started to ask questions about her faith.
“I used to hate all of the questions,” Fatimata said. “Now I welcome them. People are curious. They want to know more.”
The daughter of a Muslim imam prays five times a day and fast regularly, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.
“When I get into test mode, I don’t even notice that I’m fasting,” she said.
There are as many as 20 other students at Whitehaven High who are African immigrants or first-generation Africans.
Many of those students are Muslims and cover their hair.
“I thought I would be tormented or teased when I started going to Whitehaven, but I haven’t been at all,” she said.
“Everyone makes me feel welcome. It makes me feel good.”
Fatimata plans to go to Rhodes College, then to medical school.
Someday she hopes to go to Senegal and help people who don’t have access to advanced medical care.
“I want to show that a Muslim woman can do anything,” she said.