Barry Gray

Professor Cassandra Blandford

English 1103
2 November 2015

Annotated Bibliography

X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine,
1992. Print.
Malcolm Xs autobiography offers deep insight into his various thoughts, beliefs,
and life experiences. Chronicling everything from his early years to his last days,
X lets the general public into his mind and life-experiences, and gives his unfiltered opinion on numerous subjects

With everyone having an opinion on his life and motives, his autobiography leaves
no room for interpretation. This book is relevant to my topic because the
innermost thoughts of a central figure of the black Muslim movement aids in my
search for the motives of Islamic conversion. His story of how he converted to
Islam in the first place has been used as a template for many incarcerated AfricanAmericans throughout the years.

I know this source is credible because this is Malcolm Xs autobiography. It was

created using his own thoughts and input.

Pipes, Daniel. "A Century of African-American Islam." National Review Online. 13 Dec.
2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Daniel Pipes Article on the history of African-American Islamic culture, traces the
religions beginnings in the United States. His article reveals not only the religions
beginnings on American soil, it reveals multiple pivotal figures that transformed
the relationship black Americans have with Islam to this day.

Pipes article illustrates the deep rooted connection black America has with the
Islamic religion. His article shows its infant beginnings and uses central figures to
tie in numerous dates used. The article can be helpful towards my subject by
adding backstory to the many contributions certain figures had, but definitely isnt
a main source in the grand scheme of things.

This article is a credible source because the dates used in the article have been
cross-referenced and fact checked. National Review is a widely known New York
magazine.

"Growing Faith: Prisons, Hip-Hop and Islam." The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
SpearIts 2013 article of Islamic religious conversion delves into why AfricanAmerican and Latino groups convert to Islam more often than not. He uses
different connections such as prison and Hip-Hop to back his claims and statistics.

This article can be very helpful to my topic because it perfectly encompasses my

subject, the main question answered is my focus in my paper (why do AfricanAmerican males convert to Islam while incarcerated). SpearIt uses examples like
hip-hop culture to explain blacks interest in the Islamic religion.

This article is credible because SpearIt is a published associate professor of Law at

Texas Southern University, and he is well respected in these matters.

O'neal-Parker, Lonnae. "Son's Muslim Faith Divides One Black Family." Washington
Post. The Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
Lonnae Parkers 2011 article is about a sons conversion to Islam and his mothers
subsequent negative reaction. With his mother being a devout Christian, Joshua
Blackwell probably expected his mother's negativity towards his decision but I do
not think he expected the way it would break up in his mother's relationship. This
article shows the inside of many African American households when a family
member turns to Islam.

This article can be useful in my paper because it gives a small sample inside a
traditional Christian, African-American household and how it is affected by one's
decision to change his/her faith. Joshua Blackwell story was quite puzzling to me
because of his mothers extremely left field negative reaction. I expected her to not
be for it, I did not expect their relationship to take a sharp decline. This article
helps because of the effect on things taken for granted such as family support.

This article is credible because of its publication inside of the Washington post, a
reputable newspaper.

"African-America Muslims Since 1975." PBS. PBS, 2003. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
This article by the PBS Faith Project is an interpretation of the New Age African
American Muslim, and where the modern practices of these Muslims originated
from. This timeline shows a shift, or transition between the practices of a past
generation and today's society.

This article can be useful to my paper because of the transition it displays between
the past influences on African American Muslim culture and the beginnings of
what we know today. In the 60s 70s and 80s African American Muslim culture was
viewed in a different light and even though that light has taken a complete 180 it
has definitely changed since then in terms of one's attitudes.

This article is credible because it is from PBS, A site that has been covering
African-American culture exclusively for many years now.