MANA organized a highly successful online Kick-Off Event on November 5th. Participants brainstormed on the goals and solutions for the top three priorities of the African-American Muslim community: raising strong youth, engaging young adults, and building healthy marriages.
The Kick-Off Event reflects MANA’s mission to facilitate the development of networks of people of experience and expertise to address the issues of the African-American Muslim community in order to provide concrete steps to strengthen the community.
In response to MANA’s call to African-American Muslims for this Kick-Off event, 22 participants met virtually for a robust discussion. The participants were all heavily engaged in the issues, representing all together over 500 years of experience.
The participants broke up into three virtual rooms to discuss the different priorities openly. Some of the notable ideas that came out of the brainstorming were:
Healthy Marriage Session
- Marriage preparation and marriage education classes and events are needed. Marital issues should be integrated in rites of passage programs.
- Pre-marital counseling is essential, but there is a need to re-evaluate existing efforts.
- Local communities should organize social events, couple retreats, and marriage celebrations.
- Timely check-in sessions are needed during the course of the marriage.
- A national network is needed to produce a newsletter and produce templates for marriage programs, looking to and learning from existing marriage programs.
Youth Session
- Regional rites of passage camps should be developed, looking to the existing rites of passage programs.
- Local or area-wide African-American youth groups should be established throughout the country.
- Templates are needed for youth groups.
- Area-wide or regional youth camps should be organized.
- Training for youth workers and mentors is needed.
- Programs and events to teach African-American Muslim history to youth is needed.
- Mental health and youth trauma training is needed for local communities.
Young Adult Group
- Facilitate the formation of young adult groups that focus on their issues, including career development and finances. Re-engage the hearts and minds of young adults.
- Develop a systematic curriculum for young adults, including African-American history.
- Establish economic opportunities for young adults.
- Develop leadership programs aimed at young adults.
- Local communities need to incorporate young adults in leadership.
The next important step is to widen the circle of participants, and then the group needs to select just a few goals to be implemented.
If you are interested in joining this effort, please sign up at https://manajustice.org/
Dr. Bagby obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan in Near Eastern Studies (1986) with specialty in Islamic Law. His research for the last 10 years has focused on Muslims in America. In 2001 he published the results of the first comprehensive study of mosques in America, entitled The Mosque in America: A National Portrait. (available at www.cair-net.org). Based on the 2001 study, Dr. Bagby has published four articles, “Imams and Mosque Organizations in the United States,” in Muslims in the United States, “A Profile of African American Mosques” in Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center, “Attitudes of Mosque Participants Towards America,” in the forthcoming book A Nation of Religions: The Politics of Pluralism in Multireligious America, and “The Mosque in the American Public Square,” in Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square.
