Sapelo Square is an online information resource that covers Black Muslims in the context of their relationship with Black America, the United States and the global tradition of Islam. Its mission is to challenge their invisibility in media, scholarship, and public policy. Sapelo Square is committed to a nonsectarian approach to Islam and an inclusive vision of what it means to be Black in the United States.
Although the readership is predominantly Black American Muslims, Sapelo Square has reached audiences in the United States and abroad, including readers from across Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. To date, Sapelo Square has received over 245,592 views from readers across 194 countries.
recent Partnership
THE SWEETNESS
OF MODESTY
A Brief History of the Sealed Nectar Fashion Show
22 September 2020
written by Sacred Writes’ media partner
Dr. Kayla Renée Wheeler
THE LIMITS OF CELEBRITY ACTIVISM
9 September 2020
written by Sacred Writes’ media partner
Dr. Kristian Petersen
The Black
American Sufi
A History
18 March 2020
written by Sacred Writes’ media partner
Dr. Rasul Miller
recent media partnership Fellows
Dr. Rasul Miller
Rasul Miller is a historian of Black Muslim communities in the Atlantic World. He received his PhD in History and Africana Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include Muslim movements in 20th century America and their relationship to Black Internationalism and West African intellectual history. He currently serves as a Postdoctoral Associate in the study of the Racialization of Islam at Yale University's Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration.
Dr. Kristian Petersen
Kristian Petersen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at Old Dominion University. His first book, Interpreting Islam in China: Pilgrimage, Scripture, and Language in the Han Kitab, was published with Oxford University Press in 2017. He is currently working on a project entitled The Cinematic Lives of Muslims. He is the editor of the forthcoming volumes Muslims in the Movies: A Global Anthology, for the Mizan Series published with ILEX Foundation and Harvard University Press, and New Approaches to Islam in Film, in the series Routledge Studies in Religion and Film. He also serves as host of the New Books in Religion and New Books in Islamic Studies podcasts where he discusses exciting scholarship with authors.
Dr. Kayla Renée Wheeler
Dr. Kayla Renée Wheeler is an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University. She is an expert in contemporary Black Islam in the United States. Dr. Wheeler is writing a book on the history of Black Muslim fashion in the United States. The book is based on five years of research, including interviewing Black Muslim fashion designers and attending fashion shows in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Newark. Dr. Wheeler is also the creator of the Black Islam Syllabus, a free resource guide that highlights the experiences of Muslims of African descent. Her writing has been featured in Sapelo Square and The Conversation.