The senior Religious Studies major studied black Muslim responses to racial injustice in the United States.
Name: Joel Green
Major: Religious Studies
Minors: Middle Eastern Studies and Economics
Faculty mentor: Ariela Marcus-Sells, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Title of research project: From American Apocalypse to American Medina: Black Muslim Responses to Racial Injustice in the United States
Research abstract:
In late 2016 Shaikh Hamza Yusuf, a prominent American Muslim leader and founder of the first Muslim-American college, sparked an intense controversy in the American Muslim community while attending a conference in Canada. This incident, and others like it, reveal the tensions that run through Islam’s history in America, as Muslims are forced to grapple with their identities in personal, community and national discourses.
This recent conflict frames my inquiry, as it reflects issues related to national, racial, and religious identity. My initial interest in this project was also framed by reading Sherman Jackson’s "Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering." As I continued to look into the Nation of Islam (NOI) and their relatively prominent status in the black community, I wondered why Jackson had not considered the NOI in his book.
Given that the NOI is ostensibly an organization explicitly oriented towards the alleviation of black suffering, it seems intuitive to include in a discussion about that very topic. My objective in this project is to analyze the theology and public statements of the NOI’s most influential leaders in regards to racial injustice in the United States. Using a historical critical analysis of primary sources based in postcolonial theory, this project demonstrates that Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Warith Deen Mohammed and Louis Farrakhan predicate their understanding of race and racial formation on their religious views, thus indicating that their solutions to racial injustice in the United States stem directly from their understanding of Islam.
The views of the NOI’s major leaders in regards to racial injustice can be divided into three major categories: Armageddon, Tawhid and American Medina, each of which navigates the space between American, Black and Muslim identities.
In other words:
My project demonstrates the ways in which the leaders of the NOI predicate their understanding of race on their religious views and their understanding of humans’ relationship with God by dividing their responses into racial injustice into three categories: American Apocalypse, Tawhid, and American Medina.
What made this topic interesting to you? How did you get started?
I was drawn to the NOI originally because they were very different from anything else I had ever studied or heard of. The controversy surrounding their views led me to try and understand, or at least interrogate, the circumstances and contexts that led NOI leaders to develop the worldview that they did. I started with Elijah Muhammad’s text "Message to the Blackman in America" and quickly moved to Malcolm X after that.
What was the most exciting part of the research process for you?
Conducting archival research at the New York Public Library, and later noticing that sections in Malcolm X’s "Autobiography" directly referenced his personal journal entries that I had seen.
How has your mentor shaped your experience?
Dr. Marcus-Sells was instrumental in my research process. She kept my research focused and found things in my research that I didn’t even realize were there. My project would not look the same had it not been for her mentorship.
How do you think your research might shape you or your career after graduation?
I hope that looking at responses to racial injustice in the United States, albeit extreme responses in my research, will make me more open to hearing oppressed voices and considering their solutions/desires, even (and especially) when they may at first appear unnecessary or extreme to someone with power/privilege.
What is the Five-Percent nation, and how have you extended your research to explore Five-Percent beliefs?
The Five-Percent nation is an offshoot of the NOI which also responds to racial injustice in the United States. I have been looking at how Five-Percent beliefs play out in Five-Percenter rap music. My research may be found at this website: https://joelgreen.elonimedia.org.