Anti-Black Racism in Muslim Spaces Sessions

A team of community members from various sectors and backgrounds came together in Fall 2020, with the desire to address the prevalence of ongoing anti-Black racism within Muslim communities, spaces and institutions in the Edmonton area. An attempt in the Summer of 2020 by Al Rashid Mosque to address issues that are embedded in racial injustice showed the lack of community preparedness and understanding of Black issues and how that permeates in a multitude of Muslim institutions. As a result, this informal group came together at the end of that year, and has met regularly since then. As a diverse group, we have put a lot of energy, education and intention into establishing clear parameters, building our own awareness, and in deciding what our ways and objectives of engaging would be. The building of the strategy has been supported and facilitated by the JHC. We have also hosted two series of community Engagement sessions led by Black facilitators, that aim to identifiy current collective responses to the ongoing anti-Black racism, as well as, the issues that urge attention within Muslim communities. 

Our most short-term goal is to continue creating those spaces that allow the community to have those difficult educational conversations centering, but without burdening Black members of the community. We want to contribute to understanding our environment and the various experiences and assets that comes with it so that we may understand where we can support our communities’ in furthering anti-Black racism.This ongoing initiative creates a space for people to be heard, seeks to understand how racism manifests in Muslim spaces in Edmonton, and is producing collective solutions with concrete actions. The end result will be a meeting with stakeholders to share the results of the community and ideally support them with initiating change in their respective communities and spaces.