Community-based report on Anti-Black Racism in Edmonton Muslim spaces

A team of Muslim community members from various sectors and backgrounds came together with the desire to address the prevalence of ongoing racist attitudes within Muslim communities, spaces, and institutions in the Edmonton area. The intention is to contribute to the fostering of inclusive Muslim spaces in Edmonton by addressing anti-racism, especially anti-Black racism, through community empowerment, advocacy, and education. The building of the strategy has been facilitated by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. 

The Anti-Racism Muslim Collaborative (AMC) prepared and designed a series of Community Engagement Sessions. The objective of the dialogue was twofold; to gain a better understanding of how racism manifests in Muslim spaces, and to collectively identify and design ways to move specific anti-racism actions forward. The intention of this report is to contribute to the education and transformation of those Muslim spaces in the City of Edmonton.

Anti-Black racism is rampant in most spaces in our city. However, as affirmed by Hanan Attitalla “when the spaces affected are the ones we go to recharge our faith and fulfill our spiritual commitments, it causes Black Muslims and other affected groups even deeper layers of hurt and exhaustion than other spaces. It is a space we come to be vulnerable, to seek guidance, and to strengthen our islamic intentions”. 

Some of the issues and the solutions presented by community members include:

• Language
  Our Arab members’ entitlement to language, and by extension religion and religious organizations, results in a superiority ideology that controls Muslim spaces in Edmonton. Proposed Solution: Create proximity and get to know one another. This will serve to create room for non-Arabic- speaking Muslims to participate in leadership. 

• No Safety or Remediation Process 
  In our organizations, there are no neutral spaces that center on Islam to address issues of racism, rather they center on cultural allegiances. Therefore, our Muslim community lacks cohesion and a sense of community. There is also no clear process of remediation for people who have experienced racism and discrimination. Proposed Solution: Have neutral spaces outside of mosques, while also decolonizing the existing spaces we have-including those within mosques. 

• No Representation
  The boards and leadership teams of Muslim organizations are not representative of the larger Islamic community.  Proposed Solution: There should be a focus on equity with an understanding that the Black Muslim’s experiences, including the womens’, are intersectional and unique, thus needs to be represented and leveraged in all Muslim spaces. In addition, we should collectively take care of women and respect their spaces. 

The Anti-Racism Muslim Collaborative (AMC) exists to Contribute to the fostering of inclusive and united Muslim spaces in Edmonton by addressing anti-racism through community empowerment, advocacy and education.

Below are images of Identified resources (image 1) and actors (image 2 and 3) in the Edmonton Muslim Community that should be utilized for anti-racism work