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Thursday, June 18, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com MICHIGAN IN COLOR

A brief history of Black Muslims in 
America

NOOR MOUGHNI

MiC Staff Writer

The American stigma around 

Islam often recognizes Muslim 
Americans as a recent addition 
to the nation, failing to recognize 
Black Muslims arrived with the 
first slave ship to reach Virginia’s 
coast in 1619. 

The first large influx of Muslim 

Americans were Black Muslims 
captured from Africa and enslaved 
upon arrival to America. An esti-
mated 30 percent of the African 
slaves brought to the U.S. from 
West and Central African coun-
tries were Muslim. The conditions 
of slavery were not only physically 
inhumane, these people were tar-
geted for their faith and forcefully 
oppressed into different belief sys-
tems. Many enslaved people were 
forced to convert to Christianity 
in an attempt to “civilize” them. In 
an effort to reject the assimilation 
of American culture forced upon 
them, enslaved Muslims turned to 
creative outlets such as music to 
preserve their religion and culture. 

Defending DACA

SHAY SZABO
MiC Staff Writer

Graphic by Hibah ChughtaiI

Deferred 
Action 
for 
Child-

hood Arrivals is an Obama-era 
implemented policy which grants 
temporary protection to undocu-
mented children who have been 
brought to and raised in the United 
States. For many, this is the only 
country they know. 700,000 DACA 
recipients feel as if America is their 
home. DACA recipients are allowed 
to obtain a renewable two-year 
period of protection against depor-
tation which gives children across 
the United States the opportunity 
to go to work, attend school and 
live a somewhat normal life. All 
DACA recipients have been here 
for at least thirteen years — per 
USCIS requirement for the DACA 
application — so to many recipi-
ents, this executive protection is a 
form of acceptance from a country 
they consider home.

Across the United States, there 

are over 200,000 DACA recipients 

Read more at michigandaily.com

working as essential workers pro-
tecting the health of Americans, 
among other jobs, and contribut-
ing to the well-being of the younger 
generation as educators. Currently, 
estimated 29,000 health care work-
ers are DACA recipients. Through-
out the COVID-19 pandemic, they 
have been on the frontline putting 
their own lives at risk for their 
communities. Some DACA recipi-
ents are also teachers who uplift 
young students by setting them up 
for success. They are an intricate 
part of our society that contribute 
to many aspects of our social struc-
ture and community development. 

The DACA program has not 

only positively impacted their sur-
rounding communities, but it has 
also demonstrated that it can ame-
liorate mental health outcomes for 
DACA-eligible individuals. It has 
even alleviated poverty in immi-
grant households, according to a 
study executed by Catalina Amue-
do-Dorantes. It is an extraordinary 
executive policy that inherently 

stands for inclusivity, empathy and 
acceptance.

Unfortunately, 
the 
current 

Trump administration is against 
the implementation of the DACA 
program. The current renewal 
process for DACA recipients is 
still available; however, no new 
applications are being accepted. 
The Supreme Court’s conservative 
majority has sided with the Trump 
administration to abolish the pro-
gram, while the liberal justices 
acknowledge the urgency of main-
taining such an essential program. 
This is a plight for humanity and 
survival that is affecting millions 
nationwide. 

The Supreme Court has until 

the end of June this year to release 
their decision regarding the pres-
ervation of the DACA program. 
As the court decision looms over 
the whole country, it is salient that 
allies continue protesting, spread-
ing awareness and, most impor-
tantly, plan to vote to fight for the 
DACA recipients in our country.

https://www.youtube.com/wat

ch?v=0qmO8XouJ2U&feature=yo
utu.be

Following the legal abolition of 

slavery in 1865, many Black Ameri-
cans experienced sentiments of 
displacement and lack of identity 
and culture, seeing as their enslav-
ers had also stripped them of their 
heritages. Historian Sally How-
ell explains how the 1920s were 
essential to the reshaping of the 
Black American identity. Howell 
claims, “ [Black Americans] began 
to embrace Islam in the 1920s and 
30s partially in response to the rad-
ical dislocations and racism they 
experienced prior to and during 
the Great Migration (the movement 
of disenfranchised southerners to 
industrial regions in the North).” 
This American embracement of 
Islam initiated a movement that 
would advocate for Islam as one of 
the lost elements of African heri-
tage. 

The link between Pan-African-

ism and Islam is first shown in 
Marcus Garvey’s Negro World. In 
conjunction with the popularity of 
this newspaper, other Black-Ameri-

can Muslim organizations began to 
form. Arguably, the most notable of 
these organizations is The Nation 
of Islam. The NOI was founded 
in Detroit in 1930 by Wallace fard 
Muhammad, and helped lay the 
groundwork for Islam’s influential 
role in the Black Power movement 
and the Civil Rights movement of 
the 1950s and 1960s.

The NOI, along with other Black 

Nationalist Muslim movements at 
the time, centralized the belief that 
Christianity was a “white man’s 
religion.” In this sense, Islam was 
acknowledged as a liberating ide-
ology that could separate Black 
America from their Christian sla-
veowners. The NOI is currently led 
by Louis Farrakhan, but does not 
have nearly as much influence in 
Black American communities as it 
once did.

The encouragement of Black 

racial 
superiority 
was 
later 

denounced by some former lead-
ers of the NOI, such as Malcolm X, 
but the impact of these movements 
were monumental in the spread of 
Islam throughout Black communi-
ties in the 50s and 60s.

Following the spread of Islam in 

Black communities, more and more 
Black Muslims began overtak-
ing key roles in American politics 
and society. The two first Muslim 
Americans sworn into Congress 
also happened to be Black Ameri-
can Muslims—Keith Ellison and 
Andre Carson. Muhammad Ali 
was a Black Muslim American who 
is regarded as one of the greatest 
boxers of all time. Ibtihaj Muham-
mad is a professional fencer who 
was the first Muslim woman to 
win an Olympic medal competing 
for the United States. As a result 
of Muhammad’s numerous acco-
lades and awards in her field, she 
was honored by Mattel with a Bar-
bie doll in her likeness —the first 
Barbie doll to wear a hijab. Hali-
ma Aden is an American Fashion 
model who has also had many firsts 
as a Black visibly-Muslim woman 
in the fashion industry. Aden was 
the first Muslim woman to appear 
on a cover of Sports Illustrated 
magazine wearing a burkini and 
among many other accomplish-
ments, Aden was recently named 
this year’s Daily Front Row “Break-

through Model.” 

The far-reaching spread of Islam 

in Black communities is also heav-
ily reflected in hip-hop and rap 
music. Prominent artists such as 
Rakim, Busta Rhymes and Mos Def 
reference Islam throughout many 
of their songs. The teachings of the 
Five Percent Nation are also shown 
throughout these two genres. One 
of the most recent examples being 
Jay Electronica’s “A Written Testi-
mony.” This album, similar to work 
from other Black Muslim musi-
cians, is evidence of the early influ-
ence Islamic groups such as the 
NOI had on Black Americans.

As for the current demographics 

of Muslim Americans, Sulayman 
Nyang, Howard University African 
studies professor, claimed in 2005 
that of the five million Muslims in 
America, Black Americans make 
up the largest percentage of that 
group — about 25 percent. 

This column does not encapsu-

late the entire complex history of 
Black Muslim Americans...

