Press Conference: Coalition of African American Muslims - Imam Zaid Shair (1/8)

The controversy over the Park 51 Project (Islamic Center in Lower Manhattan) is indicative of a general rise in racist bigotry towards people of color in this country. While the issue has its particular and unique distinctions, it cannot be separated from the rising violence against African Americans and Latinos, or the increasingly inflammatory rhetoric and exclusionary politics driving the national debate on immigration.

As African-American Muslims, we feel our unique perspective has been missing from an emerging national discussion. We wish to join that discussion by first of all affirming that among our forbears are Muslims who have lived peacefully and productively in this country since its inception. They, and others among our people have sacrificed too much, both in enduring the horrors and brutalities of chattel slavery, and during the long march to freedom, civil and human rights for us to silently accept a return to Jim Crow exclusionary practices and policies that relegate either ourselves or our co-religionists from other ethnic backgrounds to second-class citizenry.

We commend all of those Jews, Christians and members of other faith and ethnic communities who have raised their voices in defense of the constitutional rights of all Americans. We also laud the work that other Muslim organizations have done in response to the current situation. We add our voice to theirs and will work for a country that reflects the diversity of its people and extends full and equal rights to all.

CAAM Will:

* Work to expose the underlying foreign and domestic agenda being served by the ongoing demonization of Muslims;

* Be a voice for those who have been intimidated into silence;

* Establish networks between organizations representing those elements of the population, regardless of race or religion who are suffering as a result of the politics of fear and exclusion.


Coalition Members

Abdul Jalil Muhammad
Imam Abdul Malik
Amir Muhammad
Asma Hanif
Hodari Ali Imam
Johari Abdul Malik
Attorney Kareema
Al-Amin Imam Khalid Griggs
Minister Louis Farrakhan
Imam Nadim Ali
Nisa Islam Muhammad
Imam Siraj Wahhaj
Imam Talib Deen
Imam Umar Ibn Khattab
Imam Yahya Cason
Imam Zaid Shakir

Note: This is a partial list of initial endorsers.

part two; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP5-KnqyVZU

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• islamophobia
• Muslim
• African
• American
• Latino
• solidarity
• racism
• bigotry
• mosque
• ground
• zero
• 9/11
• Christian
• Arab
• anti-Arab
• islam

[XAbdr]

White people have started a lot of things. Does your concept of right and wrong depend on what whites do? If it does, then that means you will never be a free person. The choice is yours

[XAbdr]

@mariamrogers The white man will make sure that black racism never harms a single white person. The only effects of black racism are that it gives white an excuse to keep being racist and it keeps blacks ignorant. Since the only two effects of black racism work against black people, blacks should be the first ones to reject such useless nonsense.

[XAbdr]

@mariamrogers

Mariam,

you know where racism began? Blacks are the first people. You KNOW that no blacks harbored prejudice and that color prejudice was created by whites? Where did you get that information? I said, in my many rants on this video, that black racists are nothing but blacks poorly imitating whites. Of course blacks can't harm the white man. Legally and even morally, most blacks don't have it in them to go after whites. That is precisely why black racism is totally useless.

[mariamrogers]

@blackisrealites85 including the black one's?black people would never ever accept one another.they will fight over religion/tribes/darkskin/light­skin and everything else.i've had afrocentrists hate on me because i am muslim,black christians hating on me etc.now i've noticed a disturbing trend of bm making thousands of videos on youtube about bw.the same things that malcolm x and marcus garvey warned us about.black people's religion is willie lynch.let's hate eachother on every and anything.

[mariamrogers]

@XAbdr Black people never started racism to begin with.Whites acted out their racist aggression physically against blacks/natives,even after slavery was abolished,well into the 50's,60's,70's,80's and 90's.As well as other minorities who immigrated to the west with their racism towards blacks.If blacks are racist today,it is because we learned it from the originators of it.What the heck do people expect?Black people have never physically or aggressively acted out their racism.

[blackisrealites85]

most all muslim in atlanta ga are down low faggots

[lemmieatit]

Thanks to Muhammad's extremely poor judgment (at best) and explicit approval of pedophilia, sex with children became deeply ingrained in the Islamic tradition. Arabs are the most backward, slimy, degenerate creatures to crawl God's earth. A cult like Islam could only come from Arabs(who are also the ugliest!

[TeacherTudi]

A part of me died when I saw legitimate scholars like Zaid Shakir sit alongside Farrakhan and allow him to be passed off to the American public as a Muslim. This is a man who proudly confessed to NOI killing Malcolm C. Search youtube for the video. I am ashamed of our leaders.

[XAbdr]

The real press release should read: "Prominent African Americans stand with Malcolm's killers. " because that is all that was accomplished by this press conference. How do you even think for one second you can form a "Muslim coalition." with someone who has spent his whole life being an infamous racist and a rejector of Islam???? Real news is Farrakhan and his boys going on stage saying they no longer believe in Fard Muhammad or his messenger Elijah

[XAbdr]

Farrakhan and the NOI are black racists. Warith Deen Muhammad is the Champion of African American Sunni Islam and he NEVER did this kind of press conference that Imams Zaid and Siraj have done. I am really confused...how is your embracing a racist black man going to stop white people from being racist? The real effect of this is that you have muddied the waters even more and caused more people to misunderstand Islam and given the impression that we blacks don't know Islam