The newly founded group will have a political action wing and a nonprofit branch for nonpartisan strategies and election education classes to increase voter turnout. Its members are particularly focusing on swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
The group anticipates that its formation will lead President Joe Biden and other political leaders to connect more with Black Muslim voters and hear about their concerns over issues such as affordable housing, disparities in Black maternal health, economic opportunities and education policies for young people.
“The issues that affect Black Muslims are issues that affect lots of other folks,” Street said. “Black people’s journey to Islam is one that cannot be separated from the civil rights movement and our journey to civil rights. Often those who are least educated, most likely to be affected by mass incarceration, most likely to be shot, most likely to have all the problems others folks have, and also those who are most likely to have the highest levels of education because Islam grew in the Black community, both in colleges and in prisons.”
Black Muslims are the second-largest population of American Muslims. Roughly 70% to 80% of the Philadelphia Muslim community is Black, according to BMLC’s press release. The group advocates to no longer be neglected in a social, economic and political sense.
Street noted the SEPTA bus shooting that left teenager dead and four others injured on Monday. The teen, Dayemen Taylor, received a Muslim funeral, a Janazah.
“A young man who was killed from Imhotep,” Street said. “He was a Muslim. In 2021, my nephew was shot at Ashby and 60th Street. There are Muslims dying in the streets as well. We care about their lives.”
Suswell said that while the overall Muslim community is prioritizing conflicts in the Middle East, the Black Muslim community is positioned to help reflect the interests of the larger civil rights community.
“The Black Muslims have also become a significant voice,” she said. “When it comes to voting and advocating to drive those voters to the polls, their voices will be instrumental in ensuring a greater turnout to the polls and to our voting system.”
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