The #CapturedInQueens profile series started on Instagram back on January 2015. This series was meant to help the Queenscapes audience attach faces to the multitude of diverse cultures and stories of the world's most diverse place on earth, the Borough of Queens.
Today, we feature Bilal Karriem an African American Muslim who resides in Jamaica, Queens. Currently, African-American Muslims constitute 20% of the total U.S. Muslim population, and a good portion of that number reside in the borough of Queens. I photographed Bilal this past Saturday at the Islamic Circle of North America at Iftar.
Iftar is the evening meal when Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset.
Saturday’s Iftar was sponsored by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the South East Queens Muslim Collective (SEQMC) in collaboration with the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
ICNA:
Bilal Karriem is a Union Rep at SCO Family of Services and the Youth Chair at Community Board 12 which serves the Southeastern section of Queens. Bilal is a Muslim African American form Jamaica, Queens. He attended, P.S. 40, I.S. 8, Campus Magnet High School and Borough of Manhattan Community College where he studied Computer Programming and Business Administration. He considers his community work in Queens a hobby and also admits to rooting for the New York Knicks. Bilal believes that most people would be surprised to know that he laughs at almost anything. He hopes that Queens can maintain its diversity, and that in its growth it doesn't lose its current residents. #CapturedInQueens.
Words and photograph by Adolfo Steve Vazquez