Say His Name: The Significance of Stephon Clark
By Sapelo Square Geographer and activist Ruth Wilson Gilmore defines racism [1] as “the state-sanctioned or extralegal production and exploitation of group-differentiated vulnerability to premature death.” This definition describes a reality that Black people know well. A reality in which by virtue of who you are not — not white, and/or male, […]
Hijab and the Policing of Black Women and Girls: Black Muslims Respond
By Nisa Muhammad On February 1, 2018, World Hijab Day was observed and encountered opposition from an unlikely source. A number of Black Muslims were taken aback on February 13, when 10 feminist faculty members of Spelman College released a letter expressing their concerns with the Spelman student who organized […]
Being “of the Land”: The Politics of Calling Ourselves Indigenous
By Su’ad Abdul Khabeer In what one might call American Muslim English, it is common to refer to Black Muslims as “indigenous.” The term came through self-definition and in response to the assertions of religious authority, tinged with anti-Black racism, made by Muslim immigrants from South Asia and the Middle […]
Losing Your Husband to Prison
The Politics section welcomes 2018 with a focus this year on mass incarceration, police brutality and surveillance, in addition to the many other events and activities that may happen in our community that require our response. Being Black and Muslim intersects these issues in a variety of ways. We start […]
