(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 2/1/2022) – The Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) welcomes Black History Month with a new series spotlighting notable Black Muslims in America on CAIR-Ohio platforms throughout the month of February.
“Enduring Legacy: Black Muslims in America” celebrates not only the trailblazers of our past, but also the changemakers of today.
Black Muslims constitute one-fifth of the American Muslim community and were the first racial and ethnic group of Muslims in the Americas. As we honor and commemorate Black history in the U.S., CAIR-Ohio declares loudly and proudly: Black history is American history. Black history is Islamic history.
Stay tuned to your weekly CAIR-Ohio email newsletter and follow CAIR-Ohio on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to engage with the series.
While celebrating and reflecting on this enduring legacy, we cannot ignore the realities of racial inequity today. Black lives taken from us by police brutality; Black lives unfairly targeted by the criminal justice system; voter suppression; efforts to dismiss racism and censor history taught in our classrooms.
These are just a few of many racial justice issues that plague our nation, but that we as advocates, activists, allies, and Muslims can do something about. At CAIR-Ohio, we continue to fight for civil rights and justice for all.
See our spotlights below:
Our first spotlight in this series celebrating trailblazers of our past and changemakers of today is Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Serving Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, Rep. Omar is the first Black Muslim woman and first African refugee elected to Congress. She is also the first woman of color to represent Minnesota.
Born in Somalia, Rep. Omar and her family fled the country’s civil war when she was eight. The family spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before coming to the United States in the 1990s. Since being sworn into office in January 2019, Rep. Omar has advocated for religious freedom, immigration reform, and other social justice causes.
Our next spotlight in this series is Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a globally recognized Islamic leader and scholar, Imam of the Al-Taqwa Mosque in Brooklyn, the leader of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), and former Vice President of ISNA.
Imam Siraj has inspired Muslims with his motivating lectures and workshops for over 40 years. In 1991, he became the first Muslim to recite the Opening Prayer of the Qur’an (Al-Fatiha) at the US House of Representatives. Wahhaj acts as an icon and inspiration for Black Muslims all across America, and his work and involvement in civic and religious engagement has paved the way for many more Black Muslim Americans.
Our next spotlight for Black History Month is Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, the first Black representative from Minnesota, and currently the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. Attorney General Keith Ellison helped pave the way for Muslims to hold positions of power at the federal level.
Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim-American woman to wear hijab while competing at the Olympic Games. She is an entrepreneur, activist, speaker, and Olympic bronze medalist in fencing. In 2018, Mattel released the first Barbie doll to wear the hijab modeled after her marking an important milestone in Muslim representation. Muhammad also serves as a sports ambassador with the U.S. State Department’s Empowering Women and Girls through Sport Initiative.
Malcolm X is revered as one of the most influential social justice leaders among American Muslims. During the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X was a bold advocate for the rights of Black Americans and became a vocal and unapologetic spokesman for Islam. He was unrelenting in his critique of white supremacy. Despite his legacy often being misunderstood or diminished by some, his work and faith continue to inspire every generation in the fight for social justice and equality.
Margari Aziza Hill, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of MuslimARC, the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, an organization that focuses on “Education for Liberation”. Hill is also an adjunct professor, blogger, editor, and freelance writer with articles published in How We Fight White Supremacy, Time, Huffington Post, and Al Jazeera English. After converting to Islam in 1993, her life experiences as a Black American woman have informed her research and writing on Islam, education, race, and gender. She has over 15 years of experience as an educator in various capacities and seven years of meaningful work in community organizations.
Adeyinka Muhammad Mendes is a writer, educator, researcher, and the founder of The Nibras Foundation and the Bilal Spiritual Center for Peace and the Arts. He is a native Ohioan and an Ohio State University alumnus. Imam Adeyinka is particularly passionate about uplifting youth, empowering women, and inspiring African-Americans with knowledge of their spiritual and intellectual legacy in order to build that more compassionate and sacred world for which our hearts yearn. His research interests include the political implications of mystical poetry, the history and adaptations of Islam in Black Africa and the African diaspora, and Muslim-led anti-slavery revolts in the Americas.
Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer is a scholar-artist-activist. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Michigan. Dr. Su’ad is a graduate of Georgetown University, Abu Nour University in Damascus, Syria, and Princeton University—where she earned her PhD in Cultural Anthropology. Dr. Su’ad’s first book, “Muslim Cool: Race, Religion and Hip Hop in the United States,” is a critically acclaimed ethnography on Islam and hip hop that examines how intersecting ideas of Muslimness and Blackness challenge and reproduce the meanings of race in the US. She also leads Sapelo Square, the first website dedicated to the comprehensive documentation and analysis of the Black U.S. American Muslim experience.
