For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Ngozi Odita, (718) 783-2074, Vodita@aol.com
or Laylah Barrayn at (646) 573-2422, LaylahBarrayn@gmail.com
As The Veil Turns: Female Pioneers of the American Muslim Community
On View: November 18 – December 31, 2007
Opening Reception Sunday, November 18, 2007, 3-6pm
Artist Talk (with video presentation) Friday, December 7, 2007, 6-8pm
Brooklyn, New York, November 2007 - The Gallery at Harriet's Alter Ego is proud to present As The Veil Turns: Female Pioneers of the American Muslim Community. Through Photography, video and oral history, Brooklyn-based artist Nsenga Knight explores the spiritual and community lives of Black women who converted to Islam prior to 1975 and pioneered Brooklyn’s oldest Muslim communities.
On February 25, 1975 Nation of Islam founding leader Elijah Mohammed died. The day after his death, his favorite son, Warith Deen Mohammed rose to power as the new leader and led his flock on a dramatic new journey toward orthodox Sunni Islam. Under his leadership, the world witnessed the largest mass conversion in the United States. “The women in As the Veil Turns experienced this great transition and unification of ideologies,” notes Nsenga.
The popular perception of the African American religious experience is that of Christianity. Outside of the Christian religious tradition, many associate the Islam of African Americans with the Black Nationalism philosophies of the Nation of Islam, an alternative religious/political identity of African Americans. “I believe the Nation of Islam was more popular (than Sunni Islam) at the time because it very much aligned with what was going on in the Black community, Black people fighting for Civil and Human Rights.” The women documented in As The Veil Turns were both members of the Nation of Islam and practitioners of Sunni Islam. “The reason why it's so important to know about the experiences of women who were never in the Nation of Islam is because by learning about them, you learn about the complexities of the Black community at that time and more specifically the complexities of the Muslim community at that time.”
Reared in the indigenous Muslim communities of Brooklyn, Nsenga has experienced the transition, expansion and diversity of the Muslim community here in New York City. In 2006, Nsenga attended funeral of activist, educator and community pioneer, Aliyah Abdul-Karim. On her way to Aliyah’s burial she rode in a car of Muslim women 50 and older; Nsenga found herself in the middle of conversations and invaluable recollections of the emerging Brooklyn Muslim community from nearly 60 years ago. “When I was a film student at Howard University, my goal was to tell stories about the indigenous American Muslim experience and this project is just a part of that.” Realizing that these elders had an amazing grasp of the history of the Muslim community in New York city, and that these women in her company may soon pass on, Nsenga became motivated to have them tell their stories through As the Veil Turns. “These women are such phenomenal and daring and giving women. They had a lot of courage and faith,” describes Nsenga.
As the Veil Turns will be on display at Harriet's Alter Ego from November 18th through December 31st 2007. View the project online at http://www.astheveilturns.blogspot.com
As the Veil Turns is sponsored in part by the greater New York Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural affairs administered by Brooklyn Arts Council incorporated (BAC). This project is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. In Kings County the Decentralization program is administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council incorporated (BAC). Funding and support is also provided by Puffin Foundation Ltd. and the BCAT/ Rotunda Gallery Joint Multimedia Residency.
The Gallery at Harriet’s Alter Ego is located at 293 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213. Subway: 2 and 3 trains to Bergen and B or Q trains to 7th avenue. Admission to the gallery is free open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10am-8pm and Sundays 12-6pm.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
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1 comment:
In their histories there is certainly a lesson for men of understanding. It is not a narrative which could be forged, but a verification of what is before it and a distinct explanation of all things and a guide and a mercy to a people who believe.
(Surah Yusuf 12:111)
After reading about the exhibition, I thought the above translation of the ayah was fitting. I think this is a great idea, a benefit for not only those who are in the New York Area, but also for other communities. For the young to learn and reflect-the old to reminisce. An opportunity for this generation of women, to learn how to stand strong as well as how to be true supporters of the men, in raising not only a community but strong muslim families; and for the men to come see what were the experiences of their fathers/mothers and leaders of the community before them.
Nsenga, May Allah bless you and provide you with the resources, to take the exhibition nation/worldwide, Ameen...
This is a part of the history of deen in America-from the African-American perspective, that needs to be shared.
How are we going to know where we're going if we don't know where we came from...
Your brother,
Jabbaruddin
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