The After Malcolm Digital Archive

The African American Muslim experience tells the shared story of American religious pluralism and internationalization in a truly unique way. Starting with enslaved African Muslims such as Omar b. Said (d. 1864) to iconic leaders such as Muhammad Ali or Malcolm X and up to the present moment, the Blackamerican Islamic tradition has left a firm imprint in American culture and history. While there are numerous efforts underway to secure this rich heritage, one area that is in critical need of further documentation is the role of African American Muslims during the Civil Rights and Black Power eras. In order to meet this challenge, the After Malcolm Digital Archive provides a university-based, but community driven platform to digitize original materials and oral histories that can be used for scholarly research and public education.

For inquiries and opportunities to get involved, please contact Dr. Ahmet Tekelioglu, the project’s manager at atekelio@gmu.edu.

Advisory Board: The After Malcolm Digital Archive is supported by a distinguished advisory board of national and local figures who inform the project’s strategic direction. Members include:

  • Imam Talib Abdul-Rashid, Imam of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood and Amir of the Muslim Alliance of North America.
  • Sister Aisha al-Adawiya, Islamic materials coordinator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
  • Huseyin Yilmaz, Ph.D., Research Director of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies, George Mason University.
  • Youssef J. Carter, Ph.D., Department of Religion, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
  • Kamila Barbour, Curator, Dar ul-Islam Collection.
  • Ustadha Zaynab Ansari, Tayseer Seminar.
  • Ameer Muhammad, Filmmaker and Entrepreneur, Atlanta, GA.

Project Partners

Project Team

  • Director: Abbas Barzegar, Ph.D., Non-resident Fellow at the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University.
  • Manager: Ahmet Tekelioglu, Ph.D., Research Fellow and Editor-in-Chief of The Maydan at the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University.
  • Project Assistants: Kamilah Khabir, Jeta Luboteni, Zainab Arain.

Project History

Between 2013-2018, the After Malcolm Digital Archive was housed at Georgia State University library’s Department of Special Collections, where it was co-directed by Abbas Barzegar and Dr. Bilal King (Morehouse College). Project managers included Zaynab Ansari, Amir Muhammad, and Tom Laporte with support from Khalil Abdullah, Shareef al-Shakur and numerous other community-based scholars. After beginning with oral history and document preservation activities in Atlanta, the project quickly spread to archive the histories of communities across the country. By providing original content, community members enabled the project to serve as an online resource for educators in public, private, and higher education institutions. Collectively, the After Malcolm team has lectured on the collection in domestic and international settings, produced a documentary, and hosted exhibits at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Zuckerman Museum of Art.

In 2018, the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University offered to house the collection as a stand alone website and provide support for the continuation of its original mission to archive and preserve history from the “After Malcolm” period of American Muslim history. The Archive is the Center’s second digital humanities project after its launch of the Maydan, a digital scholarship platform focusing on Islamic Studies.

The After Malcolm Digital Archive would not be possible without the support and trust of Ibrahim Hanif, Imam Mutawaf al-Shaheed, Nadim Ali, Imam Plemon Al-Amin, Mansour Ansari, Imam Talib Abdul-Rashid, Sister Karima Al-Amin, and numerous others.