Educating Ourselves: Expanding the Muslim American Experience Beyond the Immigrant Story

As we reflect on the calls for racial justice in the country, it is important for Muslim Americans to take this opportunity to understand the history and contributions of African Americans to Islam in America and to assess whether we’re individually and institutionally truly inclusive of all Americans of diverse ethnic backgrounds. To that end, we conducted the following educational webinars about Muslim African Americans, featuring notable imams, academics, and activists, for our ING family of donors, affiliates, and speakers. These Facebook Live webinars not only address the history and richness of Muslim African American life and the contributions of Muslim African Americans to Islam in America, but also discuss how anti-black racism plays out among Muslim Americans and how it is directly related to Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry against other marginalized groups such as Asians and Latinx. We hope that we can all benefit from this knowledge that will help promote greater inclusion, mutual understanding, respect, and harmony in America.

Wednesday, July 15th, 2020 – A History of Muslims in America (an ING presentation)

Most Americans, including Muslim Americans, are unaware of the long history of Muslims in the United States. The first webinar in this series features two notable thought leaders and academics discussing the long history of Muslims African Americans in the United States, beginning with their presence before and after the founding of the nation. It will also offer an overview of ING’s academic presentation on the same topic, which includes the rediscovery of Islam among African Americans in the 20th century and the successive waves of Muslim immigration that began in the late 1800s. Speakers will present this history from both a personal and academic perspective. Outline and timestamp of the webinar are here.

Speakers: Imam Faheem Shuaibe (Resident Imam of Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland, CA for 36 years) & Dr. Mansa Bilal King (Senior Diversity Consultant at Yardstick Management, and Associate Professor at Morehouse College for 13 years).
Facilitators: Ishaq Pathan (ING Bay Area Director) & Maha Elgenaidi (ING Executive Director and Founder).

Wednesday, July 29th, 2020 – Muslim African American Communities Today

This webinar features notable imams and academics who provide an overview of Muslim African American communities in the United States, including their major institutions and their many contributions to America, Islam, and Muslim communities everywhere. They share both from an academic perspective and from their lived experiences. Outline and timestamp of the webinar are here.

Speakers: Imam Faheem Shuaibe (Resident Imam of Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland, CA for 36 years), Dr. Jamillah Karim (Former Professor of Religion at Spelman College, author, speaker, and blogger with specialties in Islam and Muslims in the United States, Islamic Feminism, Race, and Ethnicity), and Imam Zaid Shakir (Co-Founder of Zaytuna College, renowned Muslim author and speaker).
Facilitators: Ishaq Pathan (ING Bay Area Director) & Maha Elgenaidi (ING Executive Director and Founder).

Wednesday, August 12th, 2020 – Roots and Impact of Racism in the United States (an ING Intercultural Speakers Bureau Panel)

Focusing on the experiences of African Americans, this panel features speakers from various ethnic backgrounds who will address the history of the formation of narratives about colonized peoples which have led to what we today call “implicit bias” and how these narratives became embedded in American society, leading to institutional racism that functions differently for each non-white group. The panel includes representatives of the African American, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, Muslim, and Jewish communities. Outline and timestamp of the webinar are here. Call to Action handout is here.

Speakers: Imam Muhammad Ali (Chaplain at Bucknell University, Co-Director of a mentoring program for underrepresented students at the university), Br. Shannon Rivers (Spiritual leader, member of the Akimel O’otham nation, and a former Co-Chair of the Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues), Rabbi Amy Eilberg (The first woman ordained as a Conservative rabbi and serves as a spiritual director, and peace and justice educator), Dr. Hien Do (Professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San Jose State University), Hazel Gomez (Organizing Advisor for Dream of Detroit; Coalition Internal Organizer with the LIVE FREE Detroit Coalition; Curriculum Developer, Trainer, and Mentor with the Muslim Power Building Project; Islamic Studies Seminary Student with Rabata.org’s Ribaat Academic Program), and Ishaq Pathan (ING Bay Area Director).
Facilitator: Rahimeh Ramezany (ING Program Manager).

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020 – Racism in Muslim American Communities: San Francisco Bay Area Example

It is undeniable that we live in a society in which racism has shaped the attitudes of people of all backgrounds, including Muslim American communities, where each ethnic group has developed biases towards other groups.  To equip us to do our part to counter all forms of racism, this webinar features notable African American imams and activists discussing some of the different types of racism they have encountered in the larger Muslim community as well as the general ignorance about the long history of African Americans in America, the normalization of American Islam as an “immigrant experience,” and factors behind the separation of immigrant and African American mosques and communities.

Speakers: Imam Faheem Shuaibe (Resident Imam of Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland, CA for 36 years), Imam Abu Qadir Al-Amin (Resident Imam of the San Francisco Muslim Community Center for the last 30 years), Sr. Amelah El-Amin (Muslim African American human rights activist, co-founder of the nonprofit Mu’eed that serves elders and families in Oakland, CA).
Facilitator: Maha Elgenaidi (ING Executive Director and Founder).

Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 – Calls to Action – Countering Internalized Racism

This final webinar in this series features imams, scholars and activists who provide strategies and resources for countering internalized racism individually as well as in our Muslim American institutions. Outline and timestamp of the webinar are here.

Speakers: Dr. Jamillah Karim (Former Professor of Religion at Spelman College, author, speaker, and blogger with specialties in Islam and Muslims in the United States, Islamic Feminism, Race, and Ethnicity), Imam Zaid Shakir (Co-Founder of Zaytuna College, renowned Muslim author and speaker), Imam Faheem Shuaibe (Resident Imam of Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland, CA for 36 years), Dr. Mansa Bilal King (Senior Diversity Consultant at Yardstick Management, and Associate Professor at Morehouse College for 13 years), Imam Abu Qadir Al-Amin (Resident Imam of the San Francisco Muslim Community Center for the last 30 years), Imam Muhammad Ali (Chaplain at Bucknell University, Co-Director of a mentoring program for underrepresented students at the university), Ameena Jandali (ING Contributor), Ishaq Pathan (ING Bay Area Director), and Rahimeh Ramezany (ING Program Manager).
Facilitator: Maha Elgenaidi (ING Executive Director and Founder).

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