Keith Ellison
Raised by devout Catholic parents, Ellison, the third of five sons, remembers respect, tolerance and social justice being constant topics in his household, and he was given the right to choose his path at a young age. As a kid, when Ellison became disinterested in Catholicism, seeing the faith as “just rules and regulations, orthodox dogma,” he stopped attending services.
“I think I was an atheist or agnostic at some point, as well,” he tells EBONY.com.
It wasn’t until his sophomore year of college at Wayne State University that a 19-year-old Ellison made a true connection with Islam and chose the faith for himself.
“I was studying for a calculus test with a friend of mine from Libya when he said he had to leave and go to Jum’ah and I asked, ‘What’s that?’ He thought I should come and see for myself. I was curious, so I went with him and I saw all these shoes out in the hallway in the student center at Wayne State and men and women were sitting in there on sheets and there was a speaker talking about things that were interesting to me. I was working on anti-apartheid activities at the time and I was active on racial justice and fairness issues, so I liked what the speaker was saying. I went back the week after that and started reading more on the Qur’an and started reading other books on Islam.”
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“I think I was an atheist or agnostic at some point, as well,” he tells EBONY.com.
It wasn’t until his sophomore year of college at Wayne State University that a 19-year-old Ellison made a true connection with Islam and chose the faith for himself.
“I was studying for a calculus test with a friend of mine from Libya when he said he had to leave and go to Jum’ah and I asked, ‘What’s that?’ He thought I should come and see for myself. I was curious, so I went with him and I saw all these shoes out in the hallway in the student center at Wayne State and men and women were sitting in there on sheets and there was a speaker talking about things that were interesting to me. I was working on anti-apartheid activities at the time and I was active on racial justice and fairness issues, so I liked what the speaker was saying. I went back the week after that and started reading more on the Qur’an and started reading other books on Islam.”
Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/wellness-empowerment/...
Follow us: @EbonyMag on Twitter | EbonyMag on Facebook
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