In 2010, I was a fresh faced first-year Muslim student at Virginia Commonwealth University. I began my time at VCU with a sanguine outlook and an eagerness to bond with my fellow Muslim students, but the four years that followed would turn out to be the worst of my short…
Read More“To be an attorney, you need to have a certain look. And you just don’t have it.” “Why the f*** do you even wear that thing on your head?!” “The judges are going to be more critical of our team when they see you with us – It’s not personal,…
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Last Sunday Dr. Tamika Cross shared on Facebook an account of being side-lined by a Delta Airlines flight attendant who refused to believe that Dr. Cross was a doctor. Dr. Cross was on a flight where a passenger became unresponsive. When the airline paged for a doctor and Dr. Cross raised…
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American Muslims on #BlackLivesMatter and anti-racism activism The past couple of weeks have been fraught with unjustified shootings of Black individuals. We even saw the terrifying killings of 5 police offers in Dallas. #BlackLivesMatter has been trending for days now. Many influential Muslims activists have used this news presence to…
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This election cycle has been difficult to experience, even for adults. Civil conversations and respect for diversity have been sidelined, and the loudest voices in politics and on television now are frighteningly extreme. Unsurprisingly the hateful rhetoric has filtered into American schools. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has just…
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[title maintitle=”” subtitle=”Maria Khwaja Bazi speaks with the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative about engaging in racial justice conversations within the American Muslim community.”] In 2005, Boston University hosted the largest Muslim prayer of the year for Eid-ul-Adha. As we ushered in members of the community, I noticed, for the first time…
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One particular memory has been swimming in my head since the murder of Tamir Rice, on November 23, 2014. I remember back when I was 12 I was giving my parents the most vivid form of hell I could give them, in an effort to get an airsoft gun. At…
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The women had arrived to Islam in various ways. One of them, Lina, was born into the religion but often struggled to reconcile it with her mother’s Peruvian culture, which she felt was more “liberal.” Two others, Myree and Noelia, converted as a result of marriage. Miriam, the daughter of…
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For Mother’s Day last year, my husband surprised me with a spa treatment at a Muslim-owned beauty salon. Long overdue for self-care, I gladly accepted the gift of the works done under the care of an Afro Brazilian Muslim woman. When we arrived at the shop, my daughter ran into…
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Muslim Masculinity in the West in the 21st century is largely understudied. And to date, no research has looked at the ways in which uprisings in the United States have affected Muslim masculinities. Muslim Americans are comprised of various cultures and traditions, each describing masculinity and gender roles differently. Despite…
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