Dope Plain Jane is a licensed psychotherapist “born, raised, and working in NYC” who is also an opinion writer, her articles often appear in Huffington Post. In this op-ed for The Root, Plain Jane writes about the “profound nuance” of being a black American Muslim woman. Here are some snippets from her piece:
— “I’m not a hijabi Muslimah, and because I don’t wear hijab, I blend. I blend in with other black Americans who like other people, don’t recognize that my entire name is Arabic… This is mostly true unless I’m going through customs in any country; they constantly make ‘educated guesses’ about who’s Muslim, and you know why…. My intersections then are like a game of poker. It goes like, “Yes, Customs Officer, I am Muslim, but I raise you this American passport!” Sometimes I get “Enjoy your stay” or ‘Welcome home.’ And sometimes I get ‘Please step to the side ma’am.'”
— “But it’s quite symbolic really, of what it’s been like for me as a black American Muslim woman born and raised in New York City: a game of insider-outsider. I’m reminded of Langston Hughes’ short story Who’s Passing for Who?, which explored a nuance of another kind (passing for white), but a nuance no less, which, at its best, is interesting to navigate, and at its worst, so paradoxical you feel like you may come to an eventual fork in the road that requires you to choose.”
— “The truth is, there is so much for people to learn about Islam to help the tenets and ideals be recognized as more familiar than most people think. And more honestly, it kind of makes me happy to illuminate the foundations of Islam as inherently groundbreaking and progressive… I would encourage anyone to learn as much about Islam as I would encourage a person to learn about black people; and not from Muslims or black people themselves, but actual scripture and history.”
