Returning Home
July 11, 2005 | 05 Jumada al-Thanni 1426
I made it down to the masjid on 15th Street and Catharine this evening. I remember when I came here in June of 2002, I was really impressed as to how Islam had penetrated the Black community here. I mean, these folks are really Muslim. And even for those who aren’t Muslim you can see how familiar they are with it. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. So tonight, I sat with a man who works for Kenny Gamble’s Universal Companies. We sat and talked about how Islam has come through the community. He’s originally from New York, Harlem. As a child he saw Malcolm X speaking on a soap box in Harlem. He was there when Father Divine and that whole lot were there. The Nation of Islam. The Dar al-Islam movement. We talked of the many movements that have come and gone through the Black community. It tied together wonderfully with many of the things I’ve been reading in Professor Jackson’s book, Islam and the Blackamerican. I like the down-home feeling that that place has. I look forward to many more evening chats down there.
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