The empirical case in this study is that of the Hispanic Catholic converts to Islam in the Washington, DC Metropolitan and New Jersey areas of the United States. The central research question is: To what extent do Hispanic Muslim converts play a role in making different choices regarding religious commitment and practice? The argument is that not only do both the more and less active converts play a central role in making choices during the pre-affiliation and post-affiliation stages, but that these choices can often be strategic in nature as they practice the new religion in the United States. These choices are shaped by multiple factors. This contributes to a new understanding of the prevailing debates among Muslims in Europe and the United States on the nature of Muslim minorities in the West—that Muslims here are not merely transplanted but are active participants of diverse expressions of local Islam. The evidence in my research shows that being less active does not mean converts do not play a role or make choices. Both more active and less active converts make choices based on multiple factors. This is especially significant as the main aim of this thesis is to show that the converts make choices and play a role in the post-affiliation stage and that these often have strategic elements.

Latino and Muslim in America examines how so-called "minority groups" are made, fragmented, and struggle for recognition. The U.S. is poised to become the first nation whose collective minorities outnumber the dominant population, and Latinos play no small role in this world-changing demographic shift. Even as many people view Latinos and Muslims as growing threats, Latino Muslims celebrate their intersecting identities in their daily lives and in their mediated representations. In this book, Harold D. Morales follows the lives of several Latino Muslim leaders from the 1970's to the present, tracing their efforts to organize and unify nationally in order to solidify the new identity group's place within the public sphere. Drawing on four years of media analysis, ethnographic and historical research, Morales demonstrates that Latinos embrace Islam within historically specific contexts that include distinctive immigration patterns and new laws, urban spaces, and media technologies that have increasingly brought Latinos and Muslims into contact. He positions this growing community as part of the mass exodus out of the Catholic Church, the growth of Islam, and the digitization of religion. Latino and Muslim in America explores the interactions between religion, race, and media to conclude that these three categories are inextricably entwined.

This resource describes all major aspects of the culture and civilization of Hispanic Americans living in the United States. Chapters cover such topics as: Spanish explorers and colonizers Significant documents Historic landmarks Labor and employment Women Religion Literature Art Prominent Hispanics Military Business Race And more The format of each chapter varies, based on the subject being discussed. Overall, the text is narrative, augmented by more than 450 photographs, maps and charts. A bibliography has been included at the end of each chapter to facilitate further research. The Almanac also includes a glossary and a keyword index.

Through an array of detailed case studies, this book explores the vibrant digital expressions of diverse groups of Muslim cybernauts: religious clerics and Sufis, feminists and fashionistas, artists and activists, hajj pilgrims and social media influencers. These stories span a vast cultural and geographic landscape-from Indonesia, Iran, and the Arab Middle East to North America. These granular case studies contextualize cyber Islam within broader social trends: racism and Islamophobia, gender dynamics, celebrity culture, identity politics, and the shifting terrain of contemporary religious piety and practice. The book's authors examine an expansive range of digital multimedia technologies as primary “texts.” These include websites, podcasts, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube channels, online magazines and discussion forums, and religious apps. The contributors also draw on a range of methodological and theoretical models from multiple academic disciplines, including communication and media studies, anthropology, history, global studies, religious studies, and Islamic studies.

Demonstrates how race and power help to explain American religion in the twenty-first century When White people of faith act in a particular way, their motivations are almost always attributed to their religious orientation. Yet when religious people of color act in a particular way, their motivations are usually attributed to their racial positioning. Religion Is Raced makes the case that religion in America has generally been understood in ways that center White Christian experiences of religion, and argues that all religion must be acknowledged as a raced phenomenon. When we overlook the role race plays in religious belief and action, and how religion in turn spurs public and political action, we lose sight of a key way in which race influences religiously-based claims-making in the public sphere. With contributions exploring a variety of religious traditions, from Buddhism and Islam to Judaism and Protestantism, as well as pieces on atheists and humanists, Religion Is Raced brings discussions about the racialized nature of religion from the margins of scholarly and religious debate to the center. The volume offers a new model for thinking about religion that emphasizes how racial dynamics interact with religious identity, and how we can in turn better understand the roles religion—and Whiteness—play in politics and public life, especially in the United States. It includes clear recommendations for researchers, including pollsters, on how to better recognize moving forward that religion is a raced phenomenon. With contributions by Joseph O. Baker, Kelsy Burke, James Clark Davidson, Janine Giordano Drake, Ashley Garner, Edward Orozco Flores, Sikivu Hutchinson, Sarah Imhoff, Russell Jeung, John Jimenez, Jaime Kucinskas, Eric Mar, Gerardo Martí, Omar M. McRoberts, Besheer Mohamed, Dawne Moon, Jerry Z. Park, Z. Fareen Parvez, Theresa W. Tobin, and Rhys H. Williams.

from the arrival of the Spaniards to present-day influences from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Essays are not in alphabetical order, but in a classified arrangement. Volume 1, History, begins with an interpretive essay that criticizes the lack of recognition of the Hispanic influence in the building of the American nation. What follows is a collection of essays on such subjects as "The Spanish Exploration, Conquest and Settlement of New Mexico, 1540-1680," "Spanish Culture of the Golden Age and Eighteenth Century," and histories of Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans in the U.S. The volume covering Hispanic literature and art begins with an essay that attempts to foster an appreciation of Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Chicano arts and letters. It goes on to discuss each people's literature by genre, which includes theater, the novel, poetry, and the short story. Other essays discuss women writers, the Hispanic oral tradition, art, music, cinema, and the Spanish-language press.

Compiled by a team of scholars, this is part of a four-volume set of comprehensive studies on all aspects of U.S. Hispanic culture.