“Muslims in Brooklyn” is a new oral history project at the New York Historical Society that seeks to document the Muslim past and present in Brooklyn, New York. Launched last year, the project’s participants come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds – including African-American, Yemeni, Palestinian, Moroccan, Kashmiri, Bangladeshi, Tatar, Haitian and Puerto Rican – and from 18 different Brooklyn neighborhoods. They range from 24 to 74 years of age, from unobservant to conservative Muslim and everything in between, and represent occupations including entrepreneurs, community organizers, clerics, medical professionals, homemakers, business owners, laborers, educators, musicians, artists and more. Learn more about this project at the link below!
Finding Family, Faith, and Immigrant Roots
Lipka Tartars are descendants of Muslim Turkic migrants who settled in the Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at the height of immigration to the United States from Southern and Eastern Europe, Lipka Tartars traveled to the U.S. alongside their Christian and Jewish neighbors and formed a tight-knit immigrant community in Brooklyn. Over the years, as people aged and moved away, the community has fragmented. But, now a collection of American Lipka Tartars have taken steps to reconnect with their cultural and religious identity. Read this story at the link below.
Islam’s Long American Past
Contrary to what many people believe, Islam has a long history in the United States, which dates back hundreds of years. Learn more about America’s Islamic Heritage Museum, a museum in Washington, DC that works to preserve and teach this history and heritage.
Is Islam Compatible with American Values?
A new study by the New America Foundation indicates that two out of five Americans believe that Islam is incompatible with American values. At Cordoba House, we know this is false. Islamic and American values share many commonalities, such as respect for differences, private property, the right to education, and more. Read more about the study at the link below.
Anything but One Culture
The British Museum houses a vast collection of Islamic art and artifacts and a new Islamic art gallery opening at the museum—Albukhary Foundation Gallery—offers a fresh look at the institution’s astonishing Islamic collection and celebrates the diversity of cultures behind it.
