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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Adama Bah, Executive Director of Afrikana, on Halal Food in NYC Shelters
2:08:12
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Adama Bah, Executive Director of Afrikana, testifies about the lack of adequate halal food for Black Muslims in New York City shelters. She criticizes the current provision of halal meals as insufficient and culturally insensitive, highlighting the erasure of Black Muslims from the conversation about halal food.
- Bah calls for real oversight, accountability, and authentic halal food prepared by and for the Black Muslim community.
- She points out the disparity in how halal food contracts are awarded, comparing it to hypothetical scenarios with other faith groups.
- Bah mentions the need for annual Ramadan fundraisers to provide proper halal food to their communities, underlining the ongoing nature of the issue.
Adama Bah
2:08:12
Hello everyone, my name is Ada Mabah executive director of Afrikana.
2:08:16
Our focus is on black immigrants and black diaspora.
2:08:19
I'm here today because we cannot ignore the fundamental issues affecting thousands of black Muslims in New York City shelters and the lack of halal food.
2:08:27
Let me be clear what is being served halal is nothing more than rice and vegetables and while that might be enough to check a box, is not enough to meet the needs of our communities.
2:08:37
What's worse, we don't even know who the vendors are, we don't know if they're actually certified halal, if they understand what halal truly means or if they simply stamp a label to win a contract.
2:08:47
And far too long when a city talks about halal food, automatically assume it means South Asian or Arab, Black Muslims, black Africans, African American, and many black people across diaspora who practice Islam are completely erased from the conversation.
2:09:02
We are Muslim too.
2:09:03
We built mosque, we established communities, we fed our people long before there were city contracts.
2:09:08
Our food, our tradition our traditions, our dignity matters just as much.
2:09:13
But beyond the neglect, let's talk about the insult.
2:09:16
Contracts for halal foods are being given to people who do not belong to our religion, do not come from our communities, and do not understand our culture.
2:09:23
That would never happen for other faith groups.
2:09:26
Imagine if I, a black Muslim, was awarded a contract to provide kosher food for the Jewish communities without truly understanding the dietary laws.
2:09:34
Imagine if I was given a contract to supply communion wafers to churches with no regards for their religious significance.
2:09:41
It would be offensive, it would be unacceptable and this would never happen.
2:09:45
So why has this happened to us?
2:09:47
Why is our faith, our food, our dignity up for profit handed to those who neither respect nor serve us?
2:09:53
We demand change, African migrants and black Muslims should not have to beg for what is already their right.
2:09:58
We need real oversight, we need real accountability and most importantly we need real halal food prepared by our people for our people.
2:10:05
Black people dignity is not negotiable, African dignity is not disposable and we will not stop until our people get the respect and the service they deserve.
2:10:14
And most importantly, I want to add every year in Ramadan we have to do a fundraiser just to get halal food to our communities and this year we have to do another one.