Where Do We Go From Here?: Action Steps (Livestream)

Sapelo Square closed out Black History Month 2017 with ‘Where Do We Go From Here: Action Steps.’ This dynamic livestream panel was a follow up to Sapelo Square’s post-election discussion ‘Where Do We Go From Here? Black Muslim Political Action.’

Panelists discussed what it means to be Black and Muslim in America under the current administration and provided tangible steps and a plan of action for the way forward as we serve our community. The livestream took place on March 1, 2017 8p ET/7p CT

Panelists:

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, @Imamjohari
Imam Johari Abdul-Malik is the Director of Outreach at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center and former Muslim Chaplain at Howard University (HU) and was the first Muslim officially installed as a chaplain in higher education at HU and is the Head of the National Association of Muslim Chaplains in Higher Education. The imam also, serves as the chair of government relations for the Muslim Alliance in North America. He is the director of community outreach for the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center and President of the Muslim Society of Washington, Inc.

Jihad Saleh, @BlackJihad
Jihad Saleh Williams is the Government & Public Affairs Manager for Islamic Relief USA, the nation’s largest Muslim humanitarian and advocacy organization, based in Alexandria, VA. Jihad coordinates IRUSA’s advocacy and engagement with Congressional Offices, Executive Departments, and Embassies. His advocacy focuses on humanitarian issues such as ending hunger in the US and abroad, poverty alleviation, gender-based violence, and the Congressional budget & appropriations. As part of his advocacy work, Jihad is the Co-Chair of the Interfaith Coalition for Domestic Human Needs (DHN) and a member of the Alliance’s to End Hunger’s Advocacy Committee. Previously, Jihad worked in the US House of Representatives as a Legislative Assistant focused on education and anti-poverty policies. During his time on Capitol Hill, Jihad also served as the Programs and Outreach Coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staff Association. Jihad has earned graduate degrees from the Stanford Graduate School of Education and Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In 2008, he was a recipient of the inaugural American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute (AMCLI) Fellowship at the University of Southern California. Jihad is originally from Los Angeles, CA, where he did his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ieasha Prime 
Ieasha Prime is the Executive Director of Barakah, Inc, a non profit using Islamic education to solve social ills. She has spent her life as an educator, artist, activist and entrepreneur committed to the goal of empowering Muslim women to rise above their challenges to maximize their full potential of being female servants of Allah and vicegerents on this earth. After having participated in several circles of knowledge in the US, Ieasha decided to pursue religious studies abroad. She studied Arabic, Quran at the Fajr Institute and general Islamic studies in other institutes in Cairo, Egypt. After two years in Egypt, she moved to Hadramaut, Yemen and enrolled in Dar al Zahra, an Islamic University for Women. There she studied Aqeedah, Quran, Hadith, Arabic, Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Islamic law, Purification of the Heart and other religious related learning. Her lineage of scholarship from whom she received direct education can be traced directly back to the Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu alaihi wa Salaam) from Husseini lineage. Under the tutelage of her professors, she has established several circles of knowledge and continues to teach and lecture across the United States and abroad.

Nisrin Elamin
Nisrin Elamin is a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. Her research interests focus broadly on the ways in which globalization and development practices have shaped struggles over land in East Africa. Her primary interest lies in exploring the political economy of foreign land acquisitions in Sudan, South Sudan and Tanzania and the legal and socio-cultural history of land reform in the region. She is particularly interested in the various actors and communities involved in struggles over land and resources, and the ways in which they have resisted and/or promoted the privatization of land. Nisrin is originally from Sudan and received my BA in Socio-political Development Studies from Harvard University and my MA in Comparative International Education from Teachers College. Before coming to Stanford, she worked at Grassroots International-an organization dedicated to supporting the promotion of land and water rights-and taught in the U.S. and Tanzania.

Jamiah Adams, @jamiahadams
Jamiah Adams has produced educational, advocacy and documentary media for the internet, television, radio and film. Hailing from the SF Bay Area, Adams marched in and lead communications and digital media for the NAACP “Journey for Justice” Ferguson to Jefferson City trek on behalf of Mike Brown in 2014 and later a 1000 mile civil rights march in 2015. Last year she was appointed to the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site Advisory Commission and was designated an #MPower100 social justice leader. Currently she works for MoveOn.org and volunteers for Masjid Muhammad, the Women’s March and the American Muslim Health Professionals.