Forty four years after the brutal assassination of Malcolm X, the only suspect who admitted to his role in the murder was freed from prison.

A day after President Barack Obama ushered in a new chapter of American history, it was a cold, snow filled day in New York.

It took a trip to New York approximated at 5,793 miles within a tight 22 hour window of time for me to affirm one thing – the Muslim Arts movement is one of the most powerful platforms for social change in the Western hemisphere.

In the annual celebration of Black history, one prominent civil rights leader is often left out because he is deemed "too dangerous" to touch.

Hip-Hop was born out of the ashes of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. The messages of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and other Muslim activists arose naturally into the lyrics of Hip-Hop from day one.

One day my son came home from school and told me he had been sent to detention for not pledging the flag in his classroom. It’s only his second year in public school and yet, he braves these challenges day after day.

Although this perception may be waning, there has always been an historical difference in how American society has viewed Blackamericans, the offspring of slaves, with naturalized citizens from Africa, the literal African-Americans.

Too often, we forget that one of the best ways to expose people to the true message of Islam is by helping them and speaking to their issues. For our socio-political advancement in America, I believe that the broad recapturing of this Islamic principle should be paramount in the American Muslim community.

It's time that Muslim activists come together with a plan to do some serious outreach to Muslim rappers, who are part of the mainstream music industry but detached from the mainstream Muslim community.

I was recently involved in a forum entitled, Should Muslims Use The ‘N’ Word. The event could have more appropriately been entitled, Should Anyone Use The ‘N’ Word?