Unapologetically Muslim

A 2017 study by the Pew Research Center revealed that about 8 % of Muslim-Americans identified as Latin. Being from Panama myself, I was curious about this seemingly growing interest in Islam among Hispanics in the US and I imagined the difficulties they surely faced in choosing to leave behind Catholicism, a central part of Latin American identity. After getting to know members of this community in New York City, where I have lived for years, I began to make portraits of women who have converted to Islam, and who celebrate both their shared faith and their different approaches to the religion with openness, generosity, and tolerance.

Through photographs and interviews, I am hoping to portray the independence of these women, and their desire to be seen as both Latina and Muslim. For harmonizing these two identities is not easy: many of the women have experienced a lack of family support during their reversion to Islam, and even derogatory comments in their own communities. On the other hand, they have also experienced feelings of isolation when they step into a mosque—they feel that, as Latinas, they are sometimes not seen as Muslim enough.

But they have built a vibrant community where they can be “unapologetically Muslim,” as one woman put it, regardless of how conservative or liberal their beliefs and customs are. And they can bring their Latin identity into the practice of Islam, but each in her own way. These are women who have chosen to create a new identity for themselves, one that only they can define.