Husain Family Values
Layla holds onto a pillow with an illustration of Knoxville's Sunsphere in South Knoxville, Friday, May 31, 2024. While her father's side was largely Palestinian, their mother's side was a bit of a mystery. They learned that her paternal grandfather's side "goes back many generations in southern Appalachia, which validated my appreciation for this place and for the mountains," Layla says. "Part of me is a Tennessee mountain girl, and always will be, [but] part of me is Palestinian, proudly Palestinian, to my bones, to the depths of my heart."