Believing in South Central: Everyday Islam in the City of Angels

South Central, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, is often overlooked due to negative stereotypes, racial stigmas, and poverty. Sociologist Pamela J. Prickett examines the African American Muslim community in South Central and explores how they combat poverty, job scarcity, violence, and racial injustice. Through her engaging ethnography, Prickett shows how Islam is a way of life, providing a blueprint for individual and collective action. The mosque serves as a social support system, and believers deepen their spiritual practice despite poverty. Prickett also breaks past stigmas, revealing a complex and vibrant community. She highlights the stories of longstanding residents and provides insights into Ramadan, the mosque's history, gender issues, and the interaction between African American Muslims and South Asian and Arab American Muslims.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 192 pages
\n Publication date: 29 January 2021
\n Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
\n

South Central, a region of Los Angeles, is frequently overshadowed by negative stereotypes, problematic racial stigmas, and its reputation as the residence of some of the city's most impoverished and violent neighborhoods. Sociologist Pamela J. Prickett delves deeper into this area, focusing on the members of an African American Muslim community and examining how they support each other in combating poverty, job scarcity, violence, and racial injustice. Prickett's engaging ethnography explores how believers in this longstanding religious community perceive Islam as a way of life, a comprehensive blueprint for individual and collective action, guiding how to interact with others, conduct business, strive for progress, and cultivate faith.

Prickett provides deep insights into the daily lived religion of the Muslims who call this community home, showcasing how the mosque provides a system of social support and how believers deepen their spiritual practice amidst conditions of poverty. By telling the stories of longstanding residents of South Central, such as Sister Ava, who offers food to the local unhoused people and finds the sacred in her extensive DVD collection, Prickett breaks past the stigmas of urban poverty and reveals a complex and vibrant community. In addition to her portraits of everyday life among Muslims in South Central, Prickett also provides vivid and accessible descriptions of Ramadan and histories of the mosque, situates this community within the larger story of the Nation of Islam, explores gender issues, and unpacks the interaction between African American Muslims and South Asian and Arab American Muslims, revealing both the global and local significance of this religious tradition.

\n Weight: 286g\n
Dimension: 151 x 228 x 16 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780226747286\n \n