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Essence Magazine Names Sharia Law Defender as One of Their '100 Woke Women'

Essence magazine is celebrating their 47th anniversary by featuring 12 women on their cover who “are blazing trails for equal rights and inclusion for Black people in America.” Among those featured is Women’s March co-chair Linda Sarsour, a Sharia law apologist who once said that feminism and Zionism were incompatible.

Sarsour was very “woke” in her video comments for Essence explaining, “woke for me is just being outraged all the time and being able to stay human and feel outraged about injustice that is happening around me.”

The twelve cover women were part of Essence’s #Woke100, an “inaugural list of female creators, activists, educators, journalists, politicos and thinkers who are socially conscious and vigilant about changing our nation for the better.”

Sarsour has been called out in the past for defending Sharia law on Twitter, calling it both “reasonable” and “misunderstood.”

She drew criticism from Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik for her comments on Israel. In an interview with The Nation, Sarsour argued that “ you either stand up for the rights of all women, including Palestinians, or none.”

"As a feminist Zionist, I can’t believe I am being asked to choose or even defend my religious, historical and cultural identity.” Bialik wrote. “The ‘left’ needs to reexamine the microscope they use to look at Israel, and we all need to take a step back and remember we are stronger together: women, men, lovers of peace, and lovers of freedom and justice."

The other recipients featured in Essence’s #Woke100 include Alabama abortion doctor Yashica Robinson and Scandal writer Shonda Rhimes, a Planned Parenthood board member who is receiving an award for her positive portrayal of abortion in the show.