Okay, I'll say it. Pushy Muslim Broad on the Make.

AKA The public face of Muslims in the Alamo City

The set up (I'm reminded of NBC and their lame Nascar stunt here):

Before Sept. 11, Sarwat Husain rarely wore a hijab — the Muslim headscarf. But just as the attacks on the United States changed the world, they transformed Husain.

Practically overnight, this product of a privileged upbringing in Pakistan became an activist, determined to defend Muslims from discrimination and to educate San Antonians about Islam and Middle Eastern culture.

The most visible sign of her transformation was the hijab, ever-present since a group of Muslim women complained to her about the ugly looks and threats they were getting on the street.

"At first I thought, 'No, that can't be happening in San Antonio,' so I agreed to wear the hijab for a week to see how people would react to me," said Husain, now in her mid-50s, who became a U.S. citizen in 1975 and moved to San Antonio with her family in 1989. "I wanted to see if anything would change from before."

What happened next not only would open her eyes to the reality that anti-Muslim sentiment was on the rise, it would motivate her to become the public face of the San Antonio Muslim community.

Anti-Muslim sentiment on the rise? I hate to break it to you Sarwat sweetmeat, that tends to happen when Muslims kill thousands of Americans on a crisp, beautiful fall day.

Oh, and here's the payoff:

Today, she's the founder, president and sole woman on the board of the San Antonio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based anti-discrimination group.

This vignette about Madame Husain was quite amusing:

She's seen discrimination first-hand.

Standing at a checkout line at an electronics store in San Antonio one day, she noticed a woman glance at her, then clutch her husband's arm.

"I'm with you," the man told his wife. "There's nothing she can do to you. The guards are out there."

I call bullshit on that. Hubby dearest was holding wifey back because she was getting ready to snatch that schmatte off her head and smack her with it! And if had happened anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard, it very well could have been your very own Dinah!