Blair Imani

Blair Imani (born Blair Elizabeth Brown, October 31, 1993)[1] is an American author and historian. She identifies as queer, black, and Muslim. She is a member of the Black Lives Matter movement, and is known for protesting the shooting of Alton Sterling and Executive Order 13769.[2]

Blair Imani
Blair Imani in 2018
Born
Blair Elizabeth Brown

(1993-10-31) October 31, 1993[1]
EducationLouisiana State University
Known forActivism
MovementBlack Lives Matter
Websitehttps://blairimani.com

Education and career

Imani graduated from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2015.[3]

During her time at LSU, Imani founded an organization called Equality for HER, or Health Education Resources, in 2014. Equality for HER is a non-profit that provides resources and a forum for women and nonbinary people to feel empowered.[4] In 2016, she worked as a Press Officer for Planned Parenthood Action Fund.[5] She is presently the Civic Action & Campaign Lead at DoSomething.org, the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change.[6][7]

Imani is the author of Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History, published by Ten Speed Press on October 16, 2018. The book is illustrated by Monique Le and "spotlights 70 overlooked but important people of color, queer people, trans people, disabled people, and more who are changing the world this very moment."[8][9][10][11][12][13]

Activism in Baton Rouge
Blair Imani at Baton Rouge rally in protest of the police shooting of Alton Sterling

On July 10, 2016, in the aftermath of the shooting of Alton Sterling, Imani took part in a protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While protesting, she was arrested with her partner Akeem Muhammad.[14] In an interview with The Intercept, Imani detailed her encounter with Baton Rouge SWAT officers. She claimed that she was trampled and threatened verbally. She was photographed screaming as she was carried away by special force officers.[3]

While being detained, one officer ordered: "really give it to her," and another officer removed her hijab.[15]

Less than a week after her arrest, Imani helped organize a vigil with the Louisiana State University Student Body Association in response to and in honor of the murder of three Baton Rouge police officers. In an article in The Advocate, she said, "All violence is wrong," and that she is against all brutality, including violence against police officers.[16]

Black and Muslim identity

Imani converted to Islam in 2015 following feelings of discomfort in Christian churches and finding solace within Islam.[17] Before converting, Imani was involved in Black Lives Matter protests. This protest was taking place right after the 2015 Chapel Hill Shooting, so Imani decided to contact all nearby Mosques, and fight for both black lives, and the rights and safety of Muslims in America. This connection helped spark the idea of converting to Islam. She would also read the Quran, and used this to help further her connection to god.[18]

Describing her decision to change her name, she explained that she chose the name Imani "because Imani means 'my faith' and it's one of the days of Kwanzaa, it's also a Swahili word as well as an Arabic word, and I felt like it encapsulated my journey to Islam." [19]

Imani waited one year after converting to wear the hijab[17] and briefly stopped wearing it following the 2016 U.S. election.[20]

Personal life

Imani accidentally came out as queer in June 2017 on national conservative show Tucker Carlson Tonight. On the show, she was talking about fighting for communities, one of which was the LGBTQ community, when she was cut off. The host, Tucker Carlson, stated "You're not here to speak on behalf of those communities." Blair responded "Well, Tucker Carlson, in addition to being a Muslim woman, I am a black, queer person." This caused both positive and negative uproars from multiple communities. Imani received both death threats and words of encouragement.[21][22] After coming out, she said she received support "from queer Muslims and young people all over the world" and that she found solace in the representation of LGBT Muslims on The Bold Type.[23]

References
  1. Imani, Blair [@BlairImani] (October 28, 2018). "My birthday is on October 31, Halloween. I will be 25 this year" (Tweet). Retrieved October 29, 2018 – via Twitter.
  2. Florio, Gina M. (January 30, 2017). "Muslim Women You Should Be Following On Twitter, Because We Need Their Voices Now More Than Ever". Bustle. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  3. Mackey2016-07-14T15:35:14+00:00, Robert MackeyRobert. "Baton Rouge Police Sued Over Arrest of Peaceful Protesters". The Intercept. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  4. Imani, Blair. "Our History - Equality for HER". Equality for HER. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  5. "Donald Trump Bragged About Sexual Assault — But We Won't Let Him Normalize It". www.plannedparenthoodaction.org. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  6. "Our Team | DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change". www.dosomething.org. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  7. "How to be an activist (no experience required)". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  8. Imani, Blair (October 16, 2018). "Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History". penguinrandomhouseeducation.com. Ten Speed Press. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
  9. "Blair Imani's "Modern HERstory" changes the narrative of social justice to include women and nonbinary notables". GLAAD. 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  10. Winter, Kevin. "Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History". San Francisco Book Review. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  11. Williams, Austin (August 8, 2018). "'Modern HERstory' Amplifies the Voices of Unsung Activists". Complex. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  12. Schreiber, Hope (October 10, 2018). "Author's parents go all out to celebrate the release of her 'Modern HERstory' book, and it's the sweetest thing Twitter has seen". Yahoo Lifestyle. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  13. Schembri, Pamela. "Modern HERstory: Stories of Nonbinary people and women Rewriting History". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  14. "Baton Rouge Protester On Arrest: 'I Didn't Know If I Was Going To Survive'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  15. Imani, Blair. "One Month Ago in Baton Rouge". Louisiana Anthology. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  16. Allen, Rebekah. "Woman arrested in Alton Sterling protests is key organizer of fallen officers vigil". The Advocate. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  17. Hagen, Sofie. "60. Blair Imani - They Took My Hijab Away". Made of Human Podcast. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  18. Aguilera, Ramsey. "Life as a Queer Muslim in 2019 with Blair Imani". Youtube. Youtube. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  19. Aguilera, Ramsey. "Life as a Queer Muslim in 2019 with Blair Imani". Youtube. Youtube. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  20. Corkins, Matthew. "In Trump Era, Islam's Tolerance Helps Restless Activist Survive". Observer. Observer. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  21. Imani, Blair (24 August 2017). "Blair Imani gets real about queer Muslim representation, shares exclusive "The Bold Type" clip". GLAAD. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  22. Imani, Blair (June 2019). "Queer & Muslim: nothing to reconcile - Blair Imani - TEDxBoulder". TED. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  23. McNamara, Brittney (12 September 2017). "Blair Imani Opens Up About Being Queer, Black and Muslim". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
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