4 Ways Community Leaders Can Begin Creating Inclusive Spaces for Black Muslims
By Walla Elshekh and Amatullah Shaw
As the month of February comes to a close, so does Black History Month, a nationwide celebration to honor the role of Black Americans in American history. This celebration is dedicated to highlighting the accomplishments of Black Americans in every industry. However, the purpose of Black History Month is much greater than a tribute to the past and should extend far beyond the 29 days of February. In fact, Black History Month is an opportunity to understand the past and use it as a tool to shape the future.
When looking towards the future, we cannot ignore that racism and discrimination has functioned as a major barrier in the advancement of rights and equality for Black Americans. The way it has affected Black Muslims within the Muslim community is particularly significant. Research published in 2019 showed that “92% of Black Muslims believe that there is a lot of discrimination against black people, compared to 78% of Black Christians and 66% of nonblack Muslims.” An ISPU study also found that Black Muslims are just as likely to experience racism within the Muslim community as other Black Americans are within their own faith communities. These trends are evident within New Jersey Muslim communities as well. At the TMN Leadership Summit on Racism in Muslim Communities, it was clear that Black Muslims continue to feel uncomfortable in predominately Arab and Desi Muslim spaces due to the prevalent racism and antiblackness that they face in these spaces.
So, what are our organizations doing to create safe and inclusive spaces for Black Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the year? Here are four ways in which our community leaders can make real change when addressing racism and fostering inclusion in their organizations and our greater Muslim community.
Please note that these tools and ideas are intended to serve as a starting point. This is not an exhaustive list.
1. Take a Race Implicit Association Test
An Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures how strong a person’s subconscious associations are between different concepts and stereotypes. It takes a concept such as “Black people,” “Women”, “Muslims” and prompts test takers to group them under different categories such as “Good/Bad”, “Dangerous/Harmless,” “Rich/Poor,” etc. Based on how easily, and thereby quickly, your mind associates concepts, the IAT will tell you whether you have implicit preferences for one group over another. The purpose of the IAT is to help test takers identify unacknowledged beliefs they may hold regarding the concepts in the test.
Surely, one cannot diagnose themselves as a racist or having a specific bias based off of one test. However, taking a Race IAT provides community members and leaders the opportunity to privately receive an evaluation and honestly reflect on where these preferences come from, and more importantly, how it shapes the way they interact with community members and operate their Islamic institutions. Once you receive your score, it is essential to understand that the purpose is not to change it (since it is unlikely that one can change their implicit biases), but rather to acknowledge its existence and lead our communities in a way that does not give room for these attitudes to manifest.
2. Solicit services from racial justice organizations
As a result of today’s political climate and heightened racial tensions, an increasing number of industries are organizing racial education and implicit bias trainings. In addition, organizations are working with consultants to reform institutional practices and policies to ensure that they are promoting inclusive and respectful environments.
In your organization, consider working with a racial justice organization to help you approach these complex topics with your team. Working with these organizations will challenge you and your team to have an honest dialogue about how your organization promotes diversity, instances where you have seen discrimination in your programs, what you did or did not do, and measures you can consistently take as an organization to show Black Muslims that their experiences matter. By investing in these services, it strengthens your organization's mission to creating an inclusive environment. Working with a racial justice organization is an opportunity for your team to familiarize with topics and best practices and receive access to corresponding resources. Some racial justice organizations even cater these services to the Muslim community’s context specifically.
3. Collaborate with Predominantly Black Groups and Communities
Believe it or not, Black Muslims make up about a fifth of the Muslim community within the United States. One of the best ways to engage such a large portion of the Muslim population is to collaborate with predominately Black communities and organizations.
If you work in a masjid, consider coordinating with a predominately Black masjid to switch Imams for a Friday prayer, host joint-iftars during Ramadan, or organize joint-Eid prayers. If you lead a youth group, consider engaging with youth at predominately Black masjids for events, projects, and volunteer opportunities. Participate in initiatives and programs oragnized by Black masjids, which may include volunteer initiatives, feeding the homeless, or working with re-entry populations who converted to Islam while incarcerated and are seeking out communities to be a part of upon release.
For those who are on the board of a school’s Muslim Student Association (MSA), keep in mind that MSA’s should be a space where your Black peers feel welcomed and represented. Evaluate the speakers that are invited most often for lectures. If most of them are Arab and Desi, consider reaching out to Black scholars and leaders in the community. If you have held events in the past that were centered around Arab or Desi culture, hold events where attendees can learn about Black history, culture, and tradition outside of Black History Month. Additionally, if there are student organizations hosting events for Black History Month or that apply to Black people in general, think about how your MSA can uplift or co-sponsor those initiatives.
These tips help you to make your spaces not just inclusive in name, but in practice. Meet your Black brothers and sisters where they are, offer them a supportive hand in the issues that they care about, and engage with them in your schools, masjids, events, and communities.
4. Become Familiar with Black history
The sentiments that Black Muslims feel, as outlined in the beginning, are not unfounded. Since 1619, Black Americans bore the brunt of racist institutions in the country that they helped build. Some scholars estimate that 10-15% of African slaves were Muslim. Knowing this history, and particularly the ways in which laws, language, and culture were used as tools of oppression, will help give clarity on why some actions within the Muslim community today are offensive and continue to hurt Black Americans. For example, understanding why it can be offensive to ask Black Muslims “where they’re really from” requires you to know how centuries of enslavement have permanently damaged the lineage of African Americans, with many of them never knowing where they come from.
The tools above should be coupled with knowledge on Black history, especially since this history continues to affect so many of our Muslim sisters and brothers. There are a number of accessible resources that provide accurate information from perspectives that go beyond the Eurocentric narrative of the Black experience. These resources include:
The Black Heritage Collection by The Yaqeen Institute which highlights the cultural contributions of Black Americans to the Muslim community.
1619 Project by the New York Times which reframes U.S history by illustrating the impact of slavery on all aspects of life including politics, economics, housing and health.
The Slave Route Project by UNESCO provides content that highlights the lasting effects of slavery around the world to foster better intercultural dialogue between groups.
One of the most profound quotes regarding race within the Muslim world came from Malcom X’s Letter from Mecca:
“During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug – while praying to the same God – with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blonde, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.”
Many of us are leaders within masjids, non-profits, Islamic schools, and other Islamic institutions. As leaders, we have taken on these roles to not only make a difference in our community, but also to serve for the sake of Allah (swt). If we intend to lead with Allah’s name in mind, we cannot continue to ignore the experiences of our Black Muslim brothers and sisters. We must challenge ourselves to have these conversations and continue to push for more inclusive practices within all of our spaces.
Authors’ Note:
We invite you to email us at welshekh@themuslimnetwork.org and amatullahshaw@gmail.com with tools and ideas that have worked with your organizations and communities.
Due to high demand, The Muslim Network will host a part 2 of the Racism in Muslim Communities event in the spring. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media for more information.