On The Square

In this episode of On The Square, guest host Tahirah Nailah Dean speaks with Dr. Aminah McBryde on the impact of singlism on the mental health of unmarried Muslims. Dr. Aminah McBryde is a recent PhD graduate in Community Health Sciences from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and holds a Master's in Public Health from the University at Buffalo in Community Health and Health Behavior. Tahirah Na...

In this episode of On The Square, former Sapelo Square executive director Latasha Rouseau spoke with Brother Umar Hakim-Dey, Compton, California native and founder of the groundbreaking community organization INKERIJ, about his journey to Islam, how becoming Muslim impacted his life and work, offered practical advice on how to sustain organizational work and activism through personal and professio...

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square’s Executive Director Latasha Rouseau talks with Tiffany Green-Abdullah, author of The Bean Pie: A Remembering of Our Family’s Faith, Fortitude and Forgiveness. Tiffany starts by sharing how her great aunt, Daisy Kennon, crafted the original bean pie recipe for the Nation of Islam, which would later become a staple in the Black Muslim community. Tiffa...

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square’s Executive Director Latasha Rouseau sits down with Salima Suswell. Salima is the CEO and President of Evolve Solutions and founder of the Philadelphia Ramadan and Eid Fund. Salima shares how her upbringing provided the foundation for her love of community and civic engagement. Her father, Imam Asim Abdur-Rashid (may Allah be pleased with him) was th...

In this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square’s Senior Editor Ambata Kazi talks with Aaliyah Bilal, author of the new book, Temple Folk, a collection of short stories portraying the lived experiences of Black Muslims grappling with faith, family, and freedom in America. Aaliyah shares her literary influences and how her interests in American Muslim history, especially the history of the Nation o...

Juvaria Khan is the founder and executive director of the Appellate Project, a non-profit that strives to empower law students of color to not only work, but thrive in the appellate field. Appellate courts, (also referred to as the court of appeals), review cases that have been appealed to ensure that the initial proceedings were fair and the proper law was applied correctly. These are the highest...

On this episode of On The Square, Sapelo Square’s News Editor Dr. Nisa Muhammad speaks with Yaya Fanusie, creator of The Jabbari Lincoln Files. The Jabbari Lincoln Files is an international spy thriller presented in a 10-episode podcast series. The protagonist is a Black Muslim CIA Financial Analyst who takes listeners on the ride of a lifetime through intriguing narratives and audio effects that...

In this episode of On The Square, it’s all about our Black boys! Sapelo Square’s Executive Director, Latasha Rouseau, speaks with Atiba Saleem Jones, the founder and Executive Director of SAVE Institute, which offers middle and high school programs to young Black boys as an alternative to a traditional school setting. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the mission of SAVE Institute is “to SAVE black boy...

Aïdah Aliyah Rasheed, Special Projects Lead sits down with Bee Walker, photographer, filmmaker and one-half of Paper Monday. Within this episode, Aïdah and Bee talk about the beginning stages behind the collaborative project between Sapelo Square and Paper Monday,  Preserving the Legacy Portraits and Stories Capturing Black Muslim Life .* Bee shares a specific experience that occurred when Aïdah i...

In this episode of On The Square , our host Dr. Su’ad is joined by members of the Sapelo Squad for a 2021 Year-in-Review. On The Square ’s theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats . Artwork for On The Square was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

In this episode of On The Square , we talk with Gilary Massa-Machado a community activist from Canada, Tahir Fuzile Sitoto, a lecturer from South Africa, and Ismael Lea South, a community and youth consultant from United Kingdom on the differences and the shared experiences of being Black and Muslim in the 21st century. Credits: On The Square ’s theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats . Artwork...

In this episode of On The Square , we talk with Dr. Aliyah Khan, author of Far from Mecca: Globalizing the Muslim Caribbean , about the deep Muslim history of the Caribbean and how the Muslim experience is shaped by the complex racial dynamics of the region. Credits: On The Square ’s theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats . Artwork for On The Square was created by Scheme of Things Graphics.

In this episode  On The Square , we talk about sex! Sapelo Square Senior Editor Su’ad Abdul Khabeer chats with The Village Auntie, Angelica Lindsey-Ali, a certfied sexual health educator and expert on all things sex, intimacy and womanhood from an African and Islamic perspecitve. Credits: On The Square ’s theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats . Artwork for On The Square was created by Scheme...

In this episode On The Square commemorates Black August. Sapelo Square Senior Editor Su’ad Abdul Khabeer speaks with Jihad Abdulmumit, community activist, playwright, freedom fighter, and chairperson of the National Jericho Movement about freedom and self-determination. Credits: This episode includes excerpts from archival clips of the Black Panther Party preserved in the National Archives . It al...

In this episode, Sapelo Square History Editor Zaheer Ali speaks with Tulani Salahu-Din, museum specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, about Muslim artifacts at the museum and the importance of preserving Muslim material culture.

In this episode, Sapelo Square Arts and Culture Editor Ambata Kazi-Nance speaks with author and educator Amani-Nzinga Jabbar about her book, I Bear Witness , the craft of writing, writing about difficult subject matter, and her experiences as a Black Muslim woman writer. Amani-Nzinga Jabbar is a professor of English, author, marathon runner, health coach, wife, and mother of three children. Born i...

In this episode, Sapelo Square History Editor Zaheer Ali speaks with Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer about her latest work, Umi’s Archive , a multimedia research project that digs deep into the life of her mother, Amina Amatul Haqq (neé Audrey Weeks), to explore the meanings of being Black in the world. Opening contains audio from a video performance by Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, featured in  “Why Umi’s Arc...

In this episode, Sapelo Square Arts and Culture Editor Ambata Kazi-Nance speaks with renowned midwife and doula educator Shafia Monroe about the historic Black midwife tradition in the United States and how contemporary birthworkers are implementing these traditions to improve birth outcomes for Black mothers and families. Credits: On the Square theme music was created by Fanatik OnBeats . Artwork...

In this episode our host, Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer talks with Siddeeqah Sharif Fichman an Afro-Native Muslim and community advocate and Hazel Gómez, a faith-based community organizer, about  Being Muslim on Turtle Island . This deep discussion digs into questions such as  What would make a Muslim a settler or indigenous to North America? How might settler thinking shape how we live as Muslims today...