African-American Muslim Discovers His Royalty through DNA testing
Ash-hadu an la ilaha illa Allah, Wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulu-Allah.
Amir Omar Ali took the Shahadah at 16 years old in November 1992, born and raised in Houston, Texas he accepted the call of Allah and was poised to create his path in life by following the will of Allah even
though as young as he was then; he did not know where it was going to lead him. From the days of Elijah Muhammed and Malcolm X, Islam has been a strong part of the black consciousness in America. Amir’s devotion to his religious beliefs was unwavering as he forayed deeper through his journey through life. More than 50 per cent of Muslims in America identify with Sunni Islam the rest which stands at 19 per cent identify as Shia.
Islam had always been a part of the black community in America. But for Amir, something was tugging at the recess of his and his family’s hearts, which they were yet to fathom. Their origins. One of man’s greatest needs is to be identified with a place and oftentimes when the place we call home makes us feel like strangers due to the colour of our skin it’s only natural that we begin to look to the past to help us put together the missing picture.
On the 9th of August in 2016, an African Ancestry DNA was taken by Amir’s cousin, Amir’s grandmother’s nephew. Amir’s family tree has not been able to trace back further than 1834 (30 years after Usman dan
Fodio religious jihad in 1804) and none of their ancestors appeared in the U.S. census until 1870 after the civil war, The discovery led Amir down the path of his true origins. He had always known he was born for great things, and he had always displayed a candour that gave credence to the discovery, but to have found out that his lineage was linked to a Hausa royal tribe in the northern part of Nigeria. A destiny waiting for decades to be unveiled.
“It’s not every day that someone discovers they are royalty. For someone whose identity has been shaped by the history of another culture, this revelation represents a triumph over the false narrative that portrays black people in America solely as subjugated people in a foreign land.”
Throughout history, many black people were forcibly taken from their homelands and brought to foreign lands due to colonization and selfish motives. Although Great Britain officially ended slavery in 1807, the slave trade continued well into the 19th century, with traders bypassing British blockades off the coast of Nigeria. It’s estimated that around 3.5 million slaves were transported from Nigeria to the Americas. This resulted in a significant number of people being uprooted from their African origins and starting new lives in the New World, where subsequent generations would lose their connection to their ancestral homeland.
Amir would become a part of a new generation of Americans who had to forge ahead with the history of slavery dangling over their heads as they navigated a world their ancestors built but rarely had a say in.
When Europeans discovered the Americas and the need for sugar arose, black people became commodities of relevance as world powers took turns to seize them for their greedy ambitions. One testament to the relevance of the black man was their ability to be impervious to danger and hard situations. This mindset still persists today, as the black man continues to rewrite his narrative and history despite voices that try to silence him.
Black Americans have always felt out of place. They have had to prove their worth twice over just to be accepted by the system. Through systematic subjugation and deprivation, they have had to find solace in music. This is one of the reasons why most successful entertainers are black people.
Amir is a former Chief Record Label Executive and Artist by the name of Kuwait, He is the nephew of country music star and legend “Dobie Gray” and the cousin-in-law of gospel music legend “Kathy Taylor” on his mother’s side of the family. On his father’s side, the Glovers, he is the descendant of 43 Hausa Kings.
The Glover family is very famous in the state of Texas. Amir’s cousin, Melvin Rogers Glover, founded Glover’s Rodeo and held the first-ever Glover’s Rodeo in Madisonville, Texas in 1981. The 40th Installment of the famed Glover’s Rodeo would have taken place in 2020. Unfortunately, Mr. Glover passed away on Feb. 21, 2021, due to complications with the COVID-19 virus at the age of 75. It is evident that Mr. Glover’s love for horses was in his DNA lineage linked to the Hausa. The role of the horse in Hausa culture is a symbol of social status in Hausa Society.
Music has been a powerful tool for the black community in America, allowing individuals like Amir to share their stories and establish their place in society. From the days of slavery, music has been used as a means of empowerment and resistance. As the truth about the status of black Americans became evident, they turned to music as a form of expression. During the civil rights movement, music played a crucial role, with many black entertainers using their platform to stand against oppression.
“Over time, black people have struggled with a dissonance. Who are they in the white world that seems to make them feel out of place? It’s for this purpose that the use of ancestry DNA to search for one’s origins has been able to help tons of black people to understand that even though they are in a place where they struggle to call their home, they belong to a place that has always been for them.
What has always bothered the black man is the fact that he never asked for any of this and yet, he has to find a way to be accepted in a place where he was dragged into.”
Navigating life as a black man in America means constantly feeling out of place. There’s always a sense that you do not belong here, that there’s something about you that needs to be identified before you can fit in. The black man never asked for any of this; he was royalty, living his best life in his continent before invaders came to steal away his identity and sense of belonging. The black race is the progenitor of the world; the origin of humanity began in Africa. Despite this, black people have been made to feel like they never had a civilization before being colonized.
The beauty of history is its ability to correct false narratives, as it allows everyone to delve into the past to comprehend the future. While the media often presents ancient Egyptian civilization in a whitewashed manner, there is abundant evidence to demonstrate that the black race has always pursued knowledge and progress. From the pyramids of Egypt to one of the oldest schools in Timbuktu, black people have consistently contributed to the advancement of human development without feeling the need to boast about it.
Today, Amir is a top jeweller and founder of Amir Jewels Customs. He is also a stock investor. Upon discovering his royal bloodline in Hausa, Nigeria, he connected with his ancestry and was honoured and recognized back home with a warm welcome. This story should inspire anyone struggling to find their identity. It’s important to understand that there’s something about you waiting to be unveiled. Don’t sell yourself short by accepting another person’s definition of who you are. Always remember that there’s more to you and that more can only be discovered when you stay hungry.
Today black people are taking the world by storm in different fields and their relevance can no longer be overlooked or downplayed anymore.
We are constantly contributing to the growth of the world and our strides are evident for all to see.
Dear young black individual, keep your passion alive and understand that you are in control of your destiny. There is so much potential within you waiting to be discovered. You come from a lineage of successful people who have achieved great things, and there is no reason why you can’t do the same, as long as you believe in yourself.
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