The Afghan Refugee Breakdancer Has Released A Powerful Statement About Her "Free Afghan Women" Cape
B-Girl Talash said she did what she did because “The world has forgotten about Afghan women”.
Manizah Talash, the refugee breakdancer who was disqualified from the Olympics after wearing a cape that read “Free Afghan Women” has released a powerful statement about her actions.
The 21-year-old known as “B-girl Talash” went into the third round of the competition on Aug. 9, revealing a blue Batman-like cape with the slogan written on it.
In a statement shared on her Instagram on Aug. 14, Talash said she did what she did because “The world has forgotten about Afghan women”.
She said she did not inform anyone of her plan beforehand but she wanted to use the one minute that the world would be watching her to bring attention to the issue.
Born in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, Talash now lives in Spain after fleeing the Taliban rule in 2021.
When the extremist group returned to power, they banned women from sports and raided the homes of women athletes.
Talash said she knew that the Olympics forbids political messages but that her message is not a political slogan.
“It is a statement about basic human rights,” she said, writing that she felt an obligation to use her platform.
She alluded to both breaking’s history as a method for Black and Hispanic communities to fight against discrimination in New York in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as her own experience with breaking in Afghanistan, where it is illegal for girls to train.
“Breaking is a form of expression, and so I felt that this is what I had to do, even if it meant being disqualified,” she wrote.
“I ask that you turn your attention to Afghanistan. The girls in my country can’t do anything. These are my friends, classmates, and neighbors – they have essentially no rights. They cannot study, work and can barely leave the house. But they deserve to be free,” she continued.
Talash also revealed she made her cape from a burqa, a garment known to Muslim women worldwide, especially those living under the Taliban.
The burqa is a full outer garment that is worn by some Muslim women which completely covers their body and face – leaving a mesh patch for the eyes.
The garment has not been deemed as a religious requirement by most Islamic scholars, but the Taliban made it mandatory as one of their first laws.
Talash said that women should be free to decide for themselves whether they want to wear religious coverings or not, but women in Afghanistan have no agency over their lives.
“With the fabric of this burqa that represents so much, I want to show the girls back home that even in the most difficult circumstances, they have the strength to transform things. From the burqa they can make wings. If they are in a cocoon, one day soon they can fly,” she wrote.
Her statement and actions have received widespread praise.
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