A Brief History of the Afro-Islamic Presence in New York

Abstract

Over the past quarter of a century a pronounced immigrant continental African Muslim presence has manifested itself in New York City. Their roots can be traced back at least two centuries in the Empire State's major city, since at least the landing of the slave schooner Amistad in 1839. African American descendants of Muslim African captives during the Atlantic Slave Trade, like Henry Highland Garnett, lived in upstate New York and made great historical contributions there. Following the Civil War and after the Great Black Migration northward from numerous Southern cities, several Black American groups identifying themselves as Muslims established themselves in New York's Harlem, and other Northern cities with major Black populations. Collectively, they laid the foundation for the major Muslim presence today in what has been called “the Mecca of Black America.”