Originally published in The Detroit News, Nov. 10, 2016: Pvt. Omer Otmen’s Company K was ordered to join the first wave of the 360th Infantry’s attack against German forces, including the division called the “Kaiser’s favorites.” This was part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the U.S. military’s most important campaign in World War I. Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing led over a million troops in … Continue reading My Op-Ed on Muslim Veterans in the “Detroit News”

IU Press recently had the opportunity to speak with Edward E. Curtis IV, the author of the newly released book Muslim Americans in the Military: Centuries of Service. This is a transcript of that conversation. Continue reading Get the Inside Story Behind My New Book, “Muslim Americans in the Military”

“There is seldom a religious prejudice that is not somehow stoked and encouraged by political conflicts. And you and I and all of us together can solve political conflicts,” said Edward Curtis to the first-year class of Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Read more here. Continue reading Challenging Islamophobia

Originally published in the Indianapolis Star, July 18, 2016: “We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background,” former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich declared during a recent television program. “And if they believe in Sharia they should be deported.” On the one hand, it is difficult to believe that Gingrich really means what he says. This kind of religious … Continue reading Curtis to Gingrich: Sharia is not what you think

The story of Black Muslims in the U.S. is as old as the story of its founding. But much of it is forgotten– a lapse that can make room for falsehoods and fear. Some in Omaha are working to weave the stories together again and spark discussion… “Oftentimes enslaved African Americans aren’t thought of as being educated people,” said Dr. Edward Curtis, a professor of … Continue reading Talking Muslim American History on Nebraska Public Radio

I wonder what Malcolm X himself would think of his own framing as an American icon. A thoroughly international-minded leader, he would likely wince at the ongoing association of the term “Black Muslims” with the U.S.-based Muslims such as himself and Muhammad Ali… Today, the descendants of African Muslim ancestors in Asia, Europe, and the Americas have been joined by more recent African immigrants to … Continue reading The Other Black Muslims (Besides Malcolm X)