Fatima Zaidan
Pronouns: She/Her
Research Mentor(s): Su’ad Abdul Khabeer
Research Mentor School/College/Department: American Cultre / LSA
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 2 (10:00am – 10:50am)
Authors:
Abstract
This semester I was able to work with Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer on her project called Umi’s Archive. Umi’s Archive is a multimedia research project that documents the life of Amina Amatul Haqq née Audrey Weeks. Part of my work with Umi’s Archives was creating alt text. Alt text is created to help combat knowledge barriers by providing descriptive text for digital images. Alt text increases the accessibility of the project so that more are able to understand and learn from Amina Amatul Haqq’s life story. The life of Amina Amatul Haqq highlights Black American conversion into Islam and how the Arab American Muslim community discriminated against Black American Muslims. One of the periods covered in the archive is the 1960s and 1970s, a time in which there were mass conversions by Black Americans to Islam. This included Malcolm X and the growth of an organization known as The Nation of Islam. As part of my research I was able to learn about the discrimination that Black Muslims face within the United States Muslim community. In my poster I will discuss this form of discrimination which includes the policing of Black Muslims by Arab Americans because of the ways Black Muslims use their culture to inform how they dress. My research experience on Black Muslim converts and discrimination within the American Muslim community has helped me understand the importance of accessibility for groups of people. This is highlighted by both my work with alt text as well as what I learned about Black Muslim experiences. I have learned the importance of provided greater accessibility to knowledge by removing surface level barrier gaps whether that be due to a lack of knowledge or a disability that creates a knowledge barrier.
