Stories of Some of the Early “Latino” Muslims (Part 2)

Rahim Ocasio’s speech on the history of Alianza Islamica at LALMA‘s Ramadan event in Los Angeles, CA on May 19, 2019.

By Yahya Figueroa Intellectual fads and cultural truism are very hard to detect. These false trends often have a grain of truth but the final product is distorted truths and fabulous falsehoods. The larger society has in so many ways lost its mind morally and intellectually. Our minority groups are usually in the rear but…

By Yahya Abdul Latif Figueroa Director, Alianza Islamica Beginnings and starting points are always difficult to determine and become obscured in the pages of bygone days. How and when movements and ideas bloom is never easy to pinpoint.  Historical studies of the same period rarely agree on key issues. Nonetheless, the following lines hope to…

RAMON FRANCISCO OCASIO MARCH 14TH, 2016 11:51 AM On January 30, 2016, Muslims and non-Muslims alike gathered in Houston, Texas, for the most highly anticipated event of the season: the grand opening of IslamInSpanish’s Centro Islamico, a new nexus to bring Islam to Latinos. Bright, sunny, nearly cloudless skies graced the sizable throng, most seated under…

By Yahya Abdul-Latif Figueroa Director, Alianza Islamica In these next few lines I want to boldly assert that Alianza was truly unique as a voice of Spanish Islam and that its vision and mission must be reclaimed and built again.  I want to stress that other groups today that are attempting to monopolize a Spanish…

ALIANZA ISLAMICA, pioneering Latino Muslims in New York City. Giving dawah since the 1970’s. ASWAD (Ancient Sacred Wisdom And Development) at Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood.