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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...