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Oral histories are intimate conversations between and among people who have generously agreed to share these recordings with BHS’s archives and researchers. Please listen in the spirit with which these were shared. BHS abides by the General Principles & Best Practices for Oral History as agreed upon by the Oral History Association and expects that use of this material will be done with respect for these professional ethics.
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[Last name, First name], Oral history interview conducted by [Interviewer’s First name Last name], [Month DD, YYYY], [Title of Collection], [Call #]; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Sharmin Hoque
Oral history interview conducted by Liz H. Strong
December 21, 2018
Call number: 2018.006.54
504
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Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Sharmin Hoque
Sharmin Hoque was born in 1994 in Noakhali, Bangladesh and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1999. She was raised in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn and the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens. After earning her bachelor of the sciences in public health from Long Island University and her master of public health in sociomedical sciences from Columbia University, she focused on improving New Yorkers' access to mental health services through her work as a research coordinator at NYU Langone and as the vice president of Muslims Thrive.
In this interview, Sharmin Hoque discusses her family; her upbringing in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn and the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens; and her impressions of Baitul Mamur Masjid and Masjid Al-Aman, both located in East New York. She speaks extensively about studying public health at Long Island University and Columbia University; her work as a research coordinator at NYU Langone and as the vice president of Muslims Thrive to improve access to mental health services for Bangladeshi and Muslim New Yorkers; and her observations about the intersections between race, religion, and mental health. She also talks about her marriage to her husband; her faith; her experiences with racial profiling and Islamophobia; and her thoughts about gender roles within Muslim communities. Interview conducted by Liz H. Strong.
This collection includes oral histories conducted and arranged by Brooklyn Historical Society in 2018. The interviews reflect varying approaches to religious observance among Muslim Brooklynites in relation to a wide range of communities and traditions within Islam, including Sunni, Shi'i, Sufi, Nation of Islam, W. D. Mohammed community, Five Percent, Dar ul Islam, and Ansaarullah. Collectively, there is particular focus on cultural and religious customs, practices, and gender roles within these communities; education and the arts; immigration from South Asia and the Middle East; the Nation of Islam; Islamophobia in the wake of the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center as well as after the 2016 presidential election; political activism and engagement; and community relations with law enforcement and government officials.
Citation
Hoque, Sharmin, Oral history interview conducted by Liz H. Strong, December 21, 2018, Muslims in Brooklyn oral histories, 2018.006.54; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Baitul Mamur Masjid and Community Center (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Columbia University
- Hoque, Sharmin
- Long Island University
- Masjid Al-Aman (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Muslims Thrive (New York, N.Y.)
- NYU Langone
Topics
- Bangladeshi Americans
- Hijab (Islamic clothing)
- Immigrants
- Islam
- Medicine
- Mental health services
- Patient education
- Police-community relationships
- Public health personnel
- Women in Islam
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- East New York (New York, N.Y.)
- Ozone Park (New York, N.Y.)
- Queens (New York, N.Y.)
Transcript
Download PDFFinding Aid
Muslims in Brooklyn oral histories