Precious Rasheeda Muhammad is an independent scholar, author, lecturer and historian widely recognized for her original research contributions to the study of Islam in America. She is currently working on a creative nonfiction book, When the Revolution Comes: Dispatches from Harvard to Africa, from which this essay is excerpted. The book reveals eye-opening intersections between the story of an African-born Civil War veteran, her own centuries-old American family history, and the greater story of race and religion in America. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside-Palm Desert and an MTS from Harvard University. She lives in Virginia with her two young daughters, Mirembe and Nyota, her niece, Imani, and her husband, Carl. Online she can be found at www.preciousspeaks.com.
