Race

Black in the Muslim Students Association

In 2010, I was a fresh faced first-year Muslim student at Virginia Commonwealth University. I began my time at VCU with a sanguine outlook and an eagerness to bond with my fellow Muslim students, but the four years that followed would turn out to be the worst of my short…

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“You Don’t Look Like a Lawyer”

“To be an attorney, you need to have a certain look. And you just don’t have it.” “Why the f*** do you even wear that thing on your head?!” “The judges are going to be more critical of our team when they see you with us – It’s not personal,…

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American-Muslims on Black Lives Matter and anti-racism initiatives

American Muslims on #BlackLivesMatter and anti-racism activism The past couple of weeks have been fraught with unjustified shootings of Black individuals. We even saw the terrifying killings of 5 police offers in Dallas. #BlackLivesMatter has been trending for days now. Many influential Muslims activists have used this news presence to…

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American Muslim Children Struggle in School: Impact of the 2016 Election

This election cycle has been difficult to experience, even for adults.  Civil conversations and respect for diversity have been sidelined, and the loudest voices in politics and on television now are frighteningly extreme. Unsurprisingly the hateful rhetoric has filtered into American schools.  The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just…

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Black Muslim Americans: The minority within a minority

[title maintitle=”” subtitle=”Maria Khwaja Bazi speaks with the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative about engaging in racial justice conversations within the American Muslim community.”] In 2005, Boston University hosted the largest Muslim prayer of the year for Eid-ul-Adha. As we ushered in members of the community, I noticed, for the first time…

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On Tamir Rice

One particular memory has been swimming in my head since the murder of Tamir Rice, on November 23, 2014. I remember back when I was 12 I was giving my parents the most vivid form of hell I could give them, in an effort to get an airsoft gun. At…

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Muslim Latinas on their journey to Islam

The women had arrived to Islam in various ways. One of them, Lina, was born into the religion but often struggled to reconcile it with her mother’s Peruvian culture, which she felt was more “liberal.” Two others, Myree and Noelia, converted as a result of marriage. Miriam, the daughter of…

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The politics of Black hair and hijab

For Mother’s Day last year, my husband surprised me with a spa treatment at a Muslim-owned beauty salon.  Long overdue for self-care, I gladly accepted the gift of the works done under the care of an Afro Brazilian Muslim woman. When we arrived at the shop, my daughter ran into…

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