ROOTS TO RISE is not your average conference—it's a dynamic movement crafted to celebrate the indomitable strength, resilience, and leadership of Muslim women. This year's conference guarantees an exhilarating lineup of influential speakers, thought-provoking panel discussions, and interactive workshops that promise to ignite your passion and equip you with the tools to soar in your personal and professional journey.
Keynote Speaker
Dr - Su’ad Adbul Khabeer
Su’ad Abdul Khabeer is a scholar-artist-activist originally from Brooklyn, NY. She is curator of Umi's Archive, a multimedia project documenting Black and Muslim histories and co-founder of Sapelo Square, a digital media and education collective on Black Muslims in the US. Trained as an anthropologist, Su’ad’s first book, Muslim Cool: Race, Religion and Hip Hop in the United States, is field-defining study on Islam and hip hop that examines how intersecting ideas of Muslimness and Blackness challenge and reproduce the meanings of race in the United States. Su’ad’s written scholarly work is accompanied by her performance-based work including her one woman solo show, Sampled: Beats of Muslim Life. She has written broadly for outlets including: The Root, the Washington Post, Vice and Ebony Magazine, and has appeared on Al Jazeera English. Su’ad is an associate professor of American Culture and Arab and Muslim American Studies at the University of Michigan.
Workshops & Sessions
Angelica Lindsey-Ali - The Village Auntie
Honoring Our Ancestors From East To West Africa To The Americas
Angelica Lindsey-Ali aka The Village Auntie™ is a certified sexual health educator, researcher, storyteller, author, and recognized authority in intimacy cultivation and emotional well-being. She teaches from both an African and Islamic perspective. With over 20 years of experience in public and behavioral, Lindsey-Ali draws upon her clinical, cultural and religious training to educate women about spirituality and intimacy from an Islamic lens. She is the founder of The Village Auntie Institute, a global learning community with women representing 86 different countries.
Sagirah Shahid
Muslim Women At The Forefront Of Liberation Struggles
Sagirah is a pushcart prize nominated Black Muslim poet and performance artist from Minneapolis, MN. She was a 2020 TedX Minneapolis speaker and she is an alumnae of the African American Leadership Forum's Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy. Sagirah's poetry and prose are published widely and she has received a handful of awards and fellowships for her writing including from the Loft Literary Center, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Strive Publishing, Twin Cities Media Alliance, Muslim Advocates and the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design. Sagirah's children's activity book 'Get Involved With a Book Club' was published by Capstone press in 2022. In 2024 Sagirah was a finalist for the Sexton poetry prize and she is currently a poetry editor with Overtly Lit, an international online literary journal. In addition to her artistic career, Sagirah has a professional background in grant-making and nonprofit fundraising.
Johara Suleiman
Digging Into Ancestral Emotional And Mental Healing Practices
Johara is a psychotherapist and PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her dissertation research examines child welfare system policy and practice as a site of racialization, and, using an oral history methodology, investigates its impacts on Muslim, African, immigrant mothers. While working on her dissertation, Johara continues to work with clients through her private practice, and teaches MSW students as an adjunct professor.
After receiving her MSW from Salem State University in 2016, Johara worked as an intensive in-home family therapist until 2020 when she opened her private practice. During her time as an in-home family therapist, she worked primarily toward family preservation and healing, and noticed her work often resisting macro-level dangers and barriers to wellness. The lessons she learned, relationships she built, and work she did alongside those families are what motivated her to pursue her PhD. She hopes that, through her research, she can provide wider-scale support to the families and individuals she's met and learned from as a clinician.
Arlene El-Amin and Alana Ramadan
The Lost Found Nation of Islam in the Wilderness of North America: The Transformation of a Faith Community
Arlene Nu’Man El-Amin, a resident of Minneapolis, MN since 1976, was born and raised in Chicago, IL. Her journey to Islam began in 1958, when she became a student at the Nation of Islam’s parochial school -Muhammad University of Islam in Chicago, IL After graduation, Arlene worked for the Nation of Islam from 1963 until relocating to Minneapolis in 1976. In 1975, with the passing of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, she transitioned from the Nation of Islam theology to the practice of Al-Islam, as practiced by over a billion Muslims worldwide. After moving to Minneapolis, she continued her service to the Muslim community. In 1996, she was director of the Muslim component of Congregations in Community, a volunteer initiative of the McKnight Foundation. Along with three Christian and one Jewish organizations,10,000 persons volunteered in some capacity to service those impacted by government devolution program.This began her community outreach pursuits – to this day. In 2009 she became a director of Al-Maa’uun(The Neighborly Needs) Community outreach program. The theme of Al-Maa’uun is to provide services WITH DIGNITY for those in need of food services (food shelf/ groceries), hot meals, work readiness,housing. Arlene is the mother of five children, 22 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Alana Ramadan, known as “Sister Alana” in the Muslim community and “Mrs. Ramadan” in the African American community, was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated with honors from Minneapolis Public Schools and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Metropolitan State University. At 14, she joined the Nation of Islam and later transitioned to Al-Islam under Imam W.D. Mohammed’s leadership in 1975, remaining his student until his passing in 2008. For nearly 50 years, Sister Alana has been active in the Muslim community, teaching Islamic Studies, facilitating halaqahs, supporting media dawah with her husband, and co-founding Masjid An-Nur. Inspired by Imam Mohammed, she has a deep love for studying the Quran.
With a 40-year career in education, she taught preschool at Seed Academy and kindergarten at Harvest Preparatory School, specializing in Direct Instruction reading. She retired in 2023 after nearly 30 years at Harvest Best Academy, where she embraced the philosophy, “Those who can, do. Those who can do more, teach.”
Zainab Johnson
Entertainment: Stand-Up Comedian
Zainab Johnson is a stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. Zainab’s comedy is based on her unique point-of-view, which was shaped growing up in Harlem as one of thirteen siblings in a black Muslim family. After getting a degree in Education and Math and taking a job as a teacher, she quickly learned that she had a different calling. Zainab is currently a series regular on the Amazon Original hit series titled UPLOAD from Greg Daniels, she is one of the hosts for Netflix's show 100 HUMANS, and starred as Dr. Hanniel in the brilliantly written web series AVANT-GUARDIANS. She made her first late night stand up appearance on NBC's LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS, and had breakout appearances on HBO’s ALL DEF COMEDY, NBC’s LAST COMIC STANDING, and has performed at the JFL Comedy Festival in Montreal first as a "New Face of Comedy", then as one of "Variety's Top 10 Comics to Watch", and most recently on the longest running JFL show "Just For The Culture". She is a paid regular at The Comedy Store, The Improv, and Laugh Factory in Los Angeles as well as the Comedy Cellar in New York City. Her first hour long special, Hijabs Off, is now available to stream on Amazon.
Venue & Location
Our venue is the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport
3800 American Boulevard East, Bloomington MN, 55425
tEL: +1 952-854-2100
Need a place to stay during the conference? RISE has secured a special group rate for anyone attending the conference. Use this link to reserve your hotel room at the Hilton Minneapolis/St.Paul Airport Hotel for $109 per night.
