PHOTOS: Muslim And...? Portraits of American Muslims

On January 23rd, 2014, Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations hosted Muslim And…? Portraits of American Muslims at the Brooklyn Historical Society, and a large audience came to hear the four featured panelists speak on the topics of Islamic history, diversity, and diaspora in the US.

The speakers were: Dr. Sylviane Diouf (author of Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas), Moustafa Bayoumi, (author of How Does It Feel To Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America), Ousmane Kane, (author of The Homeland Is the Arena: Religion, Transnationalism and the Integration of Senegalese Immigrants in America), and Terna Tilley-Gyado, writer and co-producer of Coming Out Muslim—a multi-genre storytelling performance about the lives of queer Muslims.

The event introduced audiences to the long and rich historical contributions of Islam in the US, and the panelists adeptly provided panoramic angles on stories, identities, experiences, migrations and struggles of Muslim communities from the 16th century till present day America.

First, Dr. Sylviane Diouf talked about the history of enslaved African Muslims beginning with the Atlantic Slave Trade, and shared stories about early Muslim slaves that illustrated dynamics of power, religious affiliation and forced labor. She also played audio clips of songs to draw connections between West African musical patterns and Southern bluegrass music, illustrating ways in which early African Muslim migration continues to impact cultural production in the US today. Dr. Ousmane Kane then talked about his research with Senegalese ethnic enclaves and the lessons learned from Senegalese Muslim and immigrant integration experiences in the US, in particular in Harlem. He identified different types of community engagement practices in Senegalese immigrant communities, ranging from civic participation, service delivery, religious community centers and mosque-centered organizing.

Moustafa Bayoumi gave a short lecture about contemporary Islamaphobia post 9/11, and the problems with misunderstanding the racial, ethnic, demographic and geographic data on Arabs and Muslims. He shared a brilliant array of historical facts and statistics, and informed the audience about the misperceptions about Muslims in America, stating, for example, that most people don't realize that the majority of US-based Muslims are African-American. He also explained that Islamaphobia continues to erase the history of religious empowerment as a strategy for cross-racial solidarity and anti-racist identity formation. And lastly, Terna Tilley-Gyado shared moving and thought-provoking excerpts from the storytelling performance, Coming Out Muslim, which examined dynamics of queerness, home, migration and invisibility within Islam. She read out pieces about her experiences with traveling home to Nigeria, and having to be closeted in a country that criminalizes LGBTQ communities. She also poignantly drew the conversation back to the heart, instead of centering it just in the head/intellect.

There was an enthusiastic and engaged Q&A session after the panel, as well as a chance for audience members to get their books signed by the authors, meet, connect and build with each other. Additionally, participants really enjoyed the delicious spread of chicken, rice, hummus, salad, baba ganoush, vegetable stew and more for dinner – thanks to the generous donations of food from local restaurants in Brooklyn Heights, such as Sahadi’s, Yemen Café, Waterfalls Café and Tripoli restaurant.

Special thanks to our co-sponsors, Park51 and RaceForward: Center for Racial Justice Innovation for making this event possible.