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The Nation of Islam is a political, cultural, and religious movement that was founded in the 1930s. The movement was especially popular in the African American community during the 1960s and ’70s, since it used Islamic structures of belief to address racism in the United States. One of the movement’s central tenets at the time was that there should be an all-black secessionist state within the United States. However, Another Brooklyn primarily focuses on the religious side of the movement, examining the devout beliefs that the Nation of Islam has surrounding the way women should dress and behave.
The Nation of Islam Quotes in Another Brooklyn
The Another Brooklyn quotes below are all either spoken by The Nation of Islam or refer to The Nation of Islam. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 8 Quotes
My brother had discovered math, the wonder of numbers, the infinite doubtless possibility. He sat on his bed most days solving problems no eight-year-old should understand. Squared, he said, is absolute. No one in the world can argue algebra or geometry. No one can say pi is wrong.
Come with me, I begged.
But my brother looked up from his numbers and said, She’s gone, August. It’s absolute.
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I prayed that my own brain, fuzzy with clouded memory, would settle into a clarity that helped me to understand the feeling I got when I pressed my lips against my new boyfriend, Jerome, his shaking hands searching my body.
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The Nation of Islam Term Timeline in Another Brooklyn
The timeline below shows where the term The Nation of Islam appears in Another Brooklyn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...sends her to a therapist named Sister Sonja. He found her through fellow members of the Nation of Islam ; Sister Sonja herself is a devout member. Looking at Sister Sonja’s black hijab, August...
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August’s brother playfully tries to convince her to settle down and devote herself to the Nation of Islam , but she sidesteps his insinuations. Focusing again on their father’s death, August begins to...
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Chapter 8
...father eventually becomes serious doesn’t eat pork. Her name is Sister Loretta, and she belongs to the Nation of Islam . Wearing a hijab and long clothes that cover her entire body, Sister Loretta tells...
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Sister Loretta teaches August and her brother about the Nation of Islam . Becoming a daily presence in their household, she tells August and her brother not...
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Chapter 12
...August becomes more and more independent, her father becomes increasingly withdrawn. Focused on his devotion to the Nation of Islam , he spends very little time with August. When they are together, he is engrossed...
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...brother has grown up considerably. Tall and conscientious, he is now a devoted member of the Nation of Islam who takes his religious faith very seriously. One night, he shakes August awake and tells...
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Chapter 13
August’s brother manages to bring his father back to the Nation of Islam . Together, they pray and read the Qur’an while August applies herself to her studies,...
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