For over two decades, West African Muslims from the Murid Sufi Brotherhood come together at the annual Cheikh Amadou Bamba Day march in Harlem, New York. Scholar Zain Abdullah calls it “a major site where they redefine the boundaries of their African identities, cope with the stigma of blackness, and counteract an anti-Muslim backlash”. Mamadou Diouf (in his preface to ‘A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal’) considers Bamba’s message an “unfinished prophecy”. Above and below are photographs Marguerite Seger took during the parade in July 2010.*

* Marguerite Seger is a New York based photographer of Sri Lankan and French decent, born and raised in Sweden. Her photography, she writes, “is versatile yet with a strong personal style”. Seger has exhibited regularly the passed years both in solo and group shows. She describes her work as “urban, raw, yet romantic”, shooting anything from MMA fighters to jeans ads, music videos, boxers and short films. More of her photographs here and here.

Further Reading

No one should be surprised we exist

The documentary film, ‘Rolé—Histórias dos Rolezinhos’ by Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Vladimir Seixas uses sharp commentary to expose social, political, and cultural inequalities within Brazilian society.

Kenya’s stalemate

A fundamental contest between two orders is taking place in Kenya. Will its progressives seize the moment to catalyze a vision for social, economic, and political change?

More than a building

The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.