In the week commemorating 52 years since the assassination of Malcolm X, the hashtag #BeingBlackAndMuslim has taken twitter by storm. It brings to light issues which many Muslims from African descent face as a minority group within a minority group.
The hashtag was launched by MuslimARC and has been running for the last 4 years during Black History month, an annual celebration of the peoples of African descent and of events which deserve to be highlighted in their history. It consists of a collection of campaigns and events primarily in diaspora communities in the US, Britain and Canada. This year, an important campaign has been launched by Muslim community leader Dawud Walid with the Muslim anti-racism collaborative using the hashtag #BeingBlackAndMuslim. The campaign is receiving a huge response on twitter; and brings to light some of the discrimination Muslims of African descent face.
Within diaspora communities Muslims from African descent are treated with wonder and confusion:
#BeingBlackAndMuslim
— wanderess (@heyitsasmaaa) February 15, 2017
Me: I'm black
Classmate: I thought you were Muslim?
Me: Ya and black
Them: pic.twitter.com/p1I2hpIR47
This might come as surprise considering up to 30% of all slaves taken to America were in fact Muslim, mostly taken from West African countries. Nowadays 28% of American Muslims also identify as black, raising the question of why they are not proportionately represented in the discourses of blackness and of Islam.
Many people took to twitter to express how being a Muslim of African descent attracts negative stereotyping:
#BeingBlackAndMuslim means I can be stereotyped as an angry, black woman and then a meek, oppressed Muslim girl all in the same day
— Jamilah Bigelow (@jtbigelow) February 20, 2015
"Did you convert in jail?" #BeingBlackAndMuslim
— Malikah A. Shabazz (@malikah313BK) February 19, 2015
When you are essentially a marginalised minority within another marginalised minority #BeingBlackAndMuslim
— شعباز (@sha3bazz) February 14, 2017
Others used the hashtag as a platform to promote and celebrate historical figures and people of importance who identified as both black and Muslim:
#BeingBlackAndMuslim is knowing that the prophet was brought up by a black woman. He called her his 'second mother'
— Silent Observer (@abs2ray) February 15, 2017
Sonni Ali, was a military strategist, conqueror and founder of the Songhai Empire in #WestAfrica.#BlackHistoryMonth #BeingBlackandMuslim pic.twitter.com/57g16uCyEu
— Daniel | دانيال (@DaniTheAvenger2) February 1, 2017
Mansa Musa-Emperor of the Malian Empire. known for his wealth, patronage of Islamic scholars& architectural projects. #BeingBlackAndMuslim
— Somali Millennial (@rashidunWaleed) February 19, 2015
In light of Trump’s recent Muslim ban, in which two African countries of Somalia and Sudan feature, now is a vital time for the Muslim community to unite and promote one another's history and culture, and celebrate the contributions of the collective Muslim community to the world.
For more information on Black History month see:
http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk (for UK based events and exhibits)
http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov (for US based events and exhibits)
SE
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