Raising Proud Black Muslim Children
“Give your daughters difficult names. Give your daughters names that command the full use of the tongue. my name makes you want to tell me the truth. my name doesn’t allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right.” From teaching my mother how to give birth by Warshan Shire After I take her… Continue reading Hafsa: A Difficult Name
The tragic deaths of Kate Spade, a fashion designer, and Anthony Bourdain, a celebrity chef, it served as a reminder that mental health conditions do not discriminate based on celebrity or wealth. However, there are still some of us within the Black and Muslim community who believe that these conditions are only for white, non-Muslims… Continue reading 4 Harmful Mental Health Myths in the Black and Muslim Communities
Below is my conversation with Sana, a Palestinian and Jason, Black American, about how they are raising their two Muslim male children, Jameel (13) and Mallik (9) while dealing with racism and Islamophobia. Both Jason and Sana were born Muslim, they have been married since 1999 and live in Florida. Black Seedlings: For Jason, was… Continue reading How These Parents Are Managing Racism and Islamophobia
With Ramadan being less than a week away, both my social media feed and email have been filling up with beautiful and fun Ramadan decorations for the last few weeks. Muslims businesses are already advertising their latest Islamic products and outfits for Eid. These promotions help put you in the Ramadan spirit and get you excited… Continue reading 3 Kid Friendly Ramadan Habits
When I was in sixth grade, my community opened a Muslim school, which I attended with my siblings until I graduated. My mother also taught at the school. We were one of the founding families and one of the handfuls of Black families who attended. I'm not going to detail every racial incident or microaggressions we encountered but only highlight a few.
Have you seen “Colored Purple”? Did your mom watch Oprah? They don’t know that some of my earliest memories are of sitting in between my mother’s legs as she neatly cornrowed my hair while Auntie O talked in the background. They don’t know. I had a Jheri curl. I watched “Coming to America” at… Continue reading They Don’t Know
It was barely 5 minutes into our 30-minute drive home from school, when the kid that is in our carpool announced that there is a Confederate flag in the school's library. I keep my tone causal because I do not want to scare him or Hafsa and I need answers without them thinking I'm upset… Continue reading Being Black in a Muslim School
"What do you want for dinner?" I asked the Kid. She replied, 'Empanadas'. I was surprised because I didn't think she knew what they were. We have never eaten or made them before. But I agreed to make them. A few days later, I did. While eating dinner, I asked her why she wanted to… Continue reading Black Muslim Representation Matters
I was born Black and Muslim and married a Black and Muslim man. We had a Black and Muslim daughter. At three months, I went back to work and she was taken care of by someone who would become one of my favorite people. She became like family and earned the nickname, Auntie. She was… Continue reading Welcome
