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Pillars Fund

@pillarsfund

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Amplifying the leadership, narratives, and talents of Muslims in the United States.

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Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother follows Latif, a devout hitman racing across Houston to protect his children after his wife’s death. Last week at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, we brought together friends from across the arts to screen the film, directed by Pillars Frames Fellowship advisor Bassam Tariq (@curry_crayola) and starring fellow advisor Mahershala Ali (@mahershalaali).

After the screening, Bassam was joined in conversation by poet and critic Hanif Abdurraqib (@nifmuhammad).

We’re deeply grateful to Bassam and Mahershala for sharing this work with us. Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother is now playing in select theaters, and in theaters everywhere in October. by @pillarsfund

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17 days ago

📣 BMPC2026 WEBSITE & REGISTRATION ARE LIVE!📣

Today is the day (and y’all have been so patient with us)!

The updated BMPC2026 website is live — and registration is officially open. Today, September 5, we open the door to BMPC2026: Rasikh — What We Carry Forward, a historic Black Muslim Atlantic gathering taking place December 17–19, 2026, in Dakar and on Gorée Island, Senegal. Scholars, clinicians, students, faith leaders, artists, organizers, educators, cultural workers, community practitioners, and all those committed to Black Muslim wellness, history, healing, and future-building — this is your official invitation to join us.

The website is packed with conference details, registration overview, preliminary program, FAQs, and guidance for how to prepare for this powerful gathering. And this updated page also includes a peek into the richness of the MWF/Said Institute archives; amazing portraits and images of our community members in US & Senegal.

Sooooo, you know what to do!

Register today.
Begin preparing now.
Come remember.
Come reconnect.
Come reclaim.
Come carry the work forward.

See you in Dakar beautiful people!✊🏾

PS. Early registration is open until October 17, regular registration closes on November 30 – and space is limited. Don’t wait until the last minute to secure your ticket!

📸: Portraits of Coppe Mangay, Fouta Toro by @laylahb.

#BMPC2026 #WhatWeCarryForward #BlackMuslimPsychology #BlackMuslimAtlantic by @pillarsfund

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@pillarsfund hosted a special screening of @mustache_movie at the John Singleton Theater which is on the historic Sony Lot.

A special night with special guests made unforgettable by @hellokismet @carromcityclub @bakesbyaliya_ and @aviosvideography

Mustache is out NOW to rent and own on all major digital platforms. by @pillarsfund

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In 3 days. The journey begins.

This Saturday, September 5, we officially launch the updated BMPC2026 website and open registration for Rasikh: What We Carry Forward.

After months (and years!) of planning, prayer, research, relationship-building, and preparation, we are excited to share more about this historic Black Muslim Atlantic gathering in Dakar and on Gorée Island, Senegal.

On Saturday, you’ll be able to explore:
BMPC2026 conference overview
Preliminary program
Registration details
Frequently asked questions
Guidance on how to prepare for the journey

BMPC2026: Rasikh — What We Carry Forward
December 17–19, 2026
Dakar + Gorée Island, Senegal

The work is rooted in memory, healing, faith, scholarship, dialogue, and collective responsibility.

Full public launch this Saturday.

Stay tuned. Prepare for the journey.

#WhatWeCarryForward #BlackMuslimPsychology #MuslimWellnessFoundation #OmarIbnSaidInstitute #BlackMuslimAtlantic by @pillarsfund

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2 months ago

Storytelling is all around us, you just have to know where to look. ✨

Last month me and the rest of the Pillars Links cohort had the amazing opportunity to go to Hawai’i for the first retreat of our fellowship. We were blessed to spend alot of time at Shangri La, Doris Duke’s home turned Islamic Art and Cultural, where we got to engage with the art as Muslim storytellers in both meaningful and critical ways. As a lover of history, I can spend hoursss in a museum soaking up all the knowledge the space has to offer and Shangri La was no exception. After our tour we were asked to pick a piece that resonated with us and film a video about it. I found myself coming back to these beautiful Iranian Lusterware Mihrabs.

To me, they perfectly illustrated just how pivotal storytelling is in museums and cultural institutions. These centuries old pieces carry with them complex layers of spirituality, culture, migration, and geopolitics woven together. And still, the collection is incomplete. The remaining lusterware are spread out across museums and private collections across the world. And the ones on display arent in their original order. These mihrabs really felt like a symbol of what it means to be children of a diaspora. After colonization, war and enslavement, those of us in the West try our best to hold on to mismatched pieces of our traditions as best as we can while simultaneously being influenced by the new environment that we’re in.

That’s a story so many of us can relate to. ❤️

Thanks so much @hi_shangrila & @pillarsfund for such an amazing trip! by @pillarsfund

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The most beautiful things I saw in Hawaii had mistakes in them. On purpose 🤔

There’s a reason Persian rug weavers leave one flaw in every rug, and it’s the same reason Hawaiians teach you to be careful with your words. Some truths find their way to every corner of the world.

Grateful to be here with the @Pillarsfund Links fellowship at @HI_ShangriLa, this space has left me feeling so incredibly inspired! 🌺#TheFarahKitchen taken in Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design by @pillarsfund

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2 months ago

Welcome to my Crib! Hidden Islamic Treasure in Hawaii?!🌴☪️🌺

For over 60 years a treasure cove of Islamic Art has been kept behind closed doors in Oahu Hawaii. The truth is Doris Duke, once the wealthiest female and heiress in the world, quietly fell in love with Islamic Art.. But why?

We got to explore this insane connection as part of the @pillarsfund Links Fellowship at the Shangri La, our paradise and home over the course of our retreat. by @pillarsfund

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2 months ago

There’s a mural at Shangri La that’s built to fade, retouched by hand, over and over, so it never fully disappears. A Lebanese-Egyptian artist, a line from a Palestinian poet, colonization and the right to return, all painted onto something that was never meant to be permanent. I came here with the Pillars Links Fellowship at Shangri La to ask better questions about my own work, and ended up standing in front of this piece the longest. Art on walls and culinary art on plates and bowls only survives when hands engage with it. Nothing I make stays alive by sitting still either. It survives because someone keeps showing up to retouch it, eat , enjoy and critique it again and again.

Hawaii food art artist museum history taken in Honolulu, Hawaii by @pillarsfund

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Meet Pillars Links Fellow Tahirah Folk ✨

Tahirah (@sincerelytahiry) is a cultural researcher, journalist, and content creator from Queens, NY, reviving the intellectual salon for the digital age. She makes the ideas she encounters in academia accessible and alive for everyday people.

She's dedicated to challenging how Black and Muslim communities are represented across media and cultural institutions. From analyzing period dramas for historical accuracy to uncovering forgotten connections between the African diaspora and the Islamic world, her work blends research with storytelling that actually reaches people. by @pillarsfund

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2 months ago

Meet Pillars Links Fellow Omar Farah✨

Omar Farah (@omarfarah) is a Somali food creator, storyteller, and poet who believes every dish has something to say.

Omar came up as a touring spoken word artist before the kitchen became his stage. Now he does what he has always done, just with more olive oil. His work tries to blend the deen, culture, and story all through food. For Omar, faith can show up in a recipe, heritage shows up in every spice blend, and he believes nothing evokes memories harder than a plate.

Chemical Engineer by degree, and a cat dad by choice – when Omar isn’t in the kitchen, he is figuring out how to keep that cat out of the spice rack. by @pillarsfund

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2 months ago