A team of Muslim community members from various sectors and backgrounds came together in the Fall of 2020 with the desire to address the prevalence of ongoing racist attitudes within Muslim communities, spaces, and institutions in the Edmonton area.
The University of Western Ontario's Muslim Students Association (Western MSA) is co-hosting a panel on Friday, January 15, exploring the experiences of Black Muslims.
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, there has been increased interest in Muslim communities to discuss issues of anti-Black racism within society.
Muslim Link has written and published stories aimed at addressing anti-Black racism in Muslim communities over the last eight years. The following recommendations are informed by this work, our experience receiving media requests for Muslim speakers, our regular reading of coverage of Muslim communities by mainstream and Muslim media, and our observations publishing thousands of Muslim community events from across Canada over several years.
“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.”- Ijeomo Oluo, African American anti-racism activist
In honour of Black History Month, Muslim Link has invited Tunisian journalist Huda Mzioudet, the co-founder of the Black Tunisian women's organization "Anbar", to discuss her experiences as a Black Tunisian growing up in Tunisia, doing investigative journalism in Libya, and now conducting academic research in Quebec.
The the US-based Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC) is producing a series of community-specific anti-racism guides.
Research on Black Muslims in Canada is limited and does little to illuminate the diverse communities Black Muslims are a part of.
Black Muslim Women in Quebec (Femmes Noires Musulmanes au Québec) is a new initiative that was launched on Saturday, October 20 in Montreal at Espace Mushagalusa. The initiative is funded by the Inspirit Foundation and supported by DESTA Black Youth Network.
Their next event is taking place on February 9th in Montreal.
Muslim Link interviewed Oumalker Idil Kalif about why this new organization is needed during the current climate for Muslims in Quebec.
LUMINOUS A Black Muslim Arts Festival will be taking place on Saturday, June 16th. An Arts Festival mixed with an Eid Festival, the event aims to celebration Toronto's Black Muslim presence.
Muslim Link interviewed the visionary behind LUMINOUS, Timaj Garad, about her hopes for the festival.
Black Panther has taken the world by storm, experiencing box office success across North America, Europe, Africa and, to many in Hollywood’s surprise given a long history of rejecting films with Black leads, Asia.
Furthermore, a Blockbuster Hollywood film that centralizes Black characters and their narratives in authentic ways both in front of and behind the camera, and that also weaves in discussions about colonialism and slavery, is groundbreaking within the current socio-political context; it’s also deeply needed.
Despite this, online comments about Black Panther have been accusing it of Islamophobia, with some even going as far as to tell Muslims to boycott the film.