Othering Khalid - A Native Son
In 2014, Khalid Griggs, a North Carolina born African-American was attacked in a massive campaign that petitioned all alumni of Wake Forest University to stop giving donations to the university until his presence as a Muslim chaplain could be debated. A Muslim convert since his senior year in college in the early 1970s, Khalid has lived in Winston-Salem all his adult life and is loved by many and is a friends to Muslim and non-Muslim alike. This campaign, even though resisted by the leadership of Wake Forest University, has none-the-less "othered" a native son and shadows Khalid to this day.
Related Project: Muslim Self Portrait Project
Khalid's favorite workplace - his living room.
Preparing for prayer.
Reading the Koran.
Khalid standing in the tunnel walkway of his old high school. In this spot in the 1960s he resisted the urging of peers to join in violent protests.
Khalid saved this ring from being sold for change in a thrift store.
Khalid's wife has covered their refrigerator with a reflection of their lives. One note reads "Dear Imam, please try to not be late for prayer." It was given to his wife by an anonymous member of the mosque and was posted on the refrigerator in humor.
Khalid laughs at his childhood antics involving protesting Winston-Salem's monument to the Confederacy, seen here in the background.
An Imam at The Community Mosque in Winston-Salem, Khalid leads a convert in the ceremony to become a Muslim.
Khalid Griggs greets a childhood friend also from Winston-Salem.
Because of health reasons, Khalid uses a chair rather than kneeling during Friday worship.