Black Muslim Responses to COVID-19
Dr. Kameelah Mu'Min Rashad and Imam Abdul-Malik Merchant
Wednesday, February 3, 2021 · 4:30 - 5:30 PM
Drawing on results from the Black COVID Survey Project, Dr.Kameelah Mu'Min Rashad andImam Abdul-Malik Merchant discussBlack Muslim responses to the pandemic. This survey focused onunderstanding the psychosocial, spiritual and economic impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on a sample ofreligiously and ethnicallydiverse Black/African Americans. This presentation will highlight thesurvey’s majorfindings and discuss how the pandemic affectedBlack/African American Muslim's religious practices,financial, andemotional well-being.
Link to join the meeting is above. If you registered in advance, you will have received a calendar invitation in the email you provided at registration.
Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad, PsyD is the Founder and President of Muslim Wellness Foundation (MWF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting healing and emotional well-being in the American Muslim community through dialogue, education and training. She is also the founding co-Director of the National Black Muslim COVID Coalition, an initiative launched in collaboration with Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative to address need for effective planning, preparedness and organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Muslim Wellness Foundation, Dr. Rashad has established the annual Black Muslim Psychology Conference and the Deeply Rooted Emerging Leaders Fellowship for Black Muslim young adults. Dr. Rashad also serves as the Fellow for Spirituality, Wellness and Social Justice at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). She is the advisor to Penn Sapelo, the first Black Muslim student organization at UPenn, and served three years as the Muslim Chaplain at UPenn. Dr. Rashad’s clinical and research areas of interest include: spirituality, diversity, religious identity and multicultural issues in psychotherapy, mental health stigma in faith and minority communities, first generation college students and emerging adults of color; healing justice and faith based activism, racial trauma and healing, psychological impact of anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Blackness, Black Muslim psychology and Black Muslim intersectional invisibility. Dr. Rashad graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Psychology and MEd in Psychological Services. She obtained further graduate education, earning a second Masters in Restorative Practices & Youth Counseling (MRP) from the International Institute for Restorative Practices. She completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with a concentration in Couple and Family Therapy) at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA.
After studying traditional Islamic Studies for nearly a decade in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Abdul-Malik Merchant returned to America with his wife and children to serve as an Imam in a large ethnically diverse community in the Boston area. While serving he completed his Master's of Theological Studies focusing on practical theology.
In 2018 Abdul-Malik began serving as the Muslim Chaplain at Tufts University and in 2020 also at the Middleton Corrections Center. He hopes to use his diverse experience—serving in a community, higher education, corrections, and volunteering in hospitals—to in the pursit of doctoral studies focusing on the spiritual education of Blackamerican Muslims.
