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Black Muslim Refugee: Militarism, Policing, and Somali American Resistance to State Violence

with Dr. Maxamed Abu-maye
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
4:00-5:30 PM
Gallery (1st floor) Hatcher Graduate Library Map
Maxamed Abu-maye, assistant professor in the Department of African American and African Studies at Ohio State University, speaks on his project, "Black Muslim Refugee: Militarism, Policing, and Somali American Resistance to State Violence."

This multi-sited project, the first of its kind, exposes the links between U.S. military violence abroad and police brutality at home through a profound exploration of Somali refugee lives. "Black Muslim Refugee" traces the globe-spanning journeys of these refugees, from civil war–era Somalia to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya to their eventual arrival in San Diego, and Abu-maye analyzes their experiences through the dual lenses of anti-Blackness and Islamophobia. He situates their displacement within the larger context of East Africa's colonial history, as well as the policy consequences of the American-backed war on terror and war on drugs. Throughout, Abu-maye's centering of Somali subjectivity underlines this community's critical and creative capacity to defy the mechanisms that seek to "manage" and ultimately control them.

Sponsored by the University of Michigan Library, Arab and Muslim American Studies, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies Studies, Global Islamic Studies Center, and the Islamophobia Working Group.
Building: Hatcher Graduate Library
Website:
Event Type: Lecture / Discussion
Tags: Free, Library
Source: Happening @ Michigan from University Library, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, Global Islamic Studies Center, Arab and Muslim American Studies (AMAS), Islamophobia Working Group (IWG)

The Global Islamic Studies Center organizes a number of public events each year such as lectures, conferences, and films, many in collaboration with other U-M units. Please use our searchable events calendar for information about upcoming programs sponsored by GISC and the Interdisciplinary Islamic Studies Seminar (IISS).