Our Approach
Photovoice in Practice
Through a photovoice approach, participants capture and share their lived experiences using images and storytelling; centering their voices on their own terms.
These insights will directly shape practical toolkits designed to push organizations toward more informed, responsive, and accountable support for Black Muslim womxn.
Grounded in Care and Collaboration
Why It Matters
Why This Research Is Urgent
Black Muslim womxn navigate overlapping experiences of anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and gendered exclusion. Yet their voices remain underrepresented across research, policy, and public discourse.
This gap limits how institutions and communities understand and respond to inequality, often resulting in approaches that fall short of care, accountability, and meaningful change. OVOS exists to help close that gap by centering lived experience as essential knowledge and creating a toolkit to combat this.
3x
Many Black Muslim womxn describe carrying multiple layers of bias at once in public, professional, and community spaces.
Too often
Research on Muslim communities overlooks Black Muslim womxn specifically, leaving critical stories, needs, and strengths undocumented.
Now
Community-led storytelling and photovoice create space for evidence rooted in lived experience, helping drive advocacy, visibility, and more responsive systems.
Further Learning & Research
Explore selected research, writing, and community-informed resources to deepen understanding of the experiences shaping the lives of Black Muslim womxn.
Intersectionality
Research exploring how anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and gendered discrimination intersect across everyday life, institutions, and public spaces.
Health & Wellbeing
Studies focused on mental health, belonging, safety, and access to culturally responsive care.
Education & Employment
Reports examining school environments, workplace experiences, leadership barriers, and visibility.
Community-Based Research
Work highlighting participatory methods such as photovoice and storytelling that center lived experience as knowledge.
Faith, Identity & Belonging
Scholarship and community writing exploring identity, faith practices, representation, and belonging within Muslim and broader public spaces.
Where to begin
Start with university research centers, peer-reviewed journals, public health institutes, and trusted community organizations. Where possible, prioritize work led by Black Muslim womxn and research developed in partnership with community.