‘Mapping the Spirit’ by Kameelah Janan Rasheed: Archiving the Spiritual Life of Black People in the United States

Award-winning Black American artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed created a digital archive titled Mapping the Spirit in 2016 to chart documents that reveal the complex spiritual life of Black people in the United States. The archive aims to show the nuance of Black religious and spiritual experience through long-form interviews, photography, video, and other paraphernalia. By showcasing this archive to the public, Rasheed helps to dispel myths and stereotypes around Black spirituality. 

She is also exhibiting how closely they are tied to socio-cultural, economic, and political phenomenons such as acculturation, colonization, slavery, and other parts of American history. Therefore, Mapping the Spirit also helps to further preserve and share the otherwise marginalized Black American history. This is why Mapping the Spirit by Kameelah Janan Rasheed is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Reduced Inequalities.

So far, there are two large archive collections under Mapping the Spirit. The first one, titled Exploring My Father’s Archive is about Rasheed going through her father, Kamal Saleem Rasheed’s personal archive that began when he converted to Islam in 1982. These documents, a collection of handwritten texts, photocopied, and typed pages, served as his reminders on how to pray and other religious practices. Some were also notes on khutbahs, or religious speeches, that he had attended at local mosques. Rasheed’s father himself had a unique perspective on spirituality, making his insights a valuable one. “I felt like I was at a buffet, I was going from religious community to religious community, getting a bit of this and a bit of that, but never really feeling full,” said Kamal Saleem Rasheed on his beliefs.

The second collection, titled Triple Canopy - My God Has Another Name, follows the plights of the Moorish Science Temple of America (MSTA). The religious organization was founded in 1913 by Noble Drew Ali whose core teaching was that Black people are descendants of the Moors who governed North West Africa. Hence, the belief called for Black Americans to identify instead as Moorish American “Moslems” of Islamic faith. Since then, the organization has helped Balck people find a sense of belonging, especially amidst migrations and shifting national politics.

In both archive collections, Rasheed has helped people to understand each other’s faith a little bit better, making meaningful contributions to fostering interfaith empathy. Mapping the Spirit’s accessibility has also meant that she is not only fostering empathy between religious and spiritual Black people, but also bridging them with those from other races and backgrounds, helping to further dispel any existing racial stereotypes.

Find out more about Mapping the Spirit and other initiatives by Kameelah Janan Rasheed on her website www.kameelahr.com or Instagram @kameelahr.