Black History Month is celebrated annually in February in the United States and Canada. Its origins go back as far as 1926 with the establishment of “Negro History Week” in the United States during the second week of February. This week was chosen because both President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) and former slave-turned-human rights activist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) were born during this week.

The first celebration of Black History Month occurred in 1970 at Kent State University and in 1976, under the presidency of Republican Gerald Ford, the Unites States government officially recognized February as Black History Month. In Canada, in 1995, Black Liberal MP Jean Augustine, who was the first Black woman to become a member of a federal cabinet, brought a motion forward to the House of Commons for the month’s recognition, and in 2008, Black Conservative Senator Donald Oliver, who was the first Black man appointed to the Senate, moved for the Senate to do the same; both motions were unanimously approved.

In honour of Black History Month, the Muslim Link’s Chelby Marie Daigle asked local Muslims -- both those who are Black and those who are not -- what Black History Month means to them.

This Halloween, Nagat Bahumaid was surprised to find herself on the front page of Imgur, a popular photo sharing site. A friend had casually posted a photo Nagat had taken of herself at work dressed as Princess Leia from the film Star Wars, using her hijab to make those classic Princess Leia braids. Within a few hours the photo went viral, getting over 100,000 views and shared on blogs around the world.

“I HATED English, which makes the whole poetry thing a surprise even for myself,” shared Ali Awada about his unlikely success as a rising star in Ottawa's Spoken Word scene. Ali, 23, grew up in Detroit, the son of Lebanese parents who decided to move to Canada when he was 10.  Ali broke onto the scene at Capital Slam in December 2012. He placed second in his first ever competition, and then won first place the next week. Ali took the stage name ”˜Ali Islam' and “the rest is history.” He has performed at Muslim community events from high school Eid Dinners to the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) Eid Festival, and recently opened for YouTube sensation FouseyTube in Montreal during his Canadian tour. You will find Ali performing solo or in the hip hop group House of Halaal with Jae “Deen” Asare.

Egyptian singer Hamza Namira, who is considered to be the unofficial Artist of the Egyptian Revolution during which he was a fixture in Tahrir Square, performed in Ottawa on Sunday, October 27th to a packed audience. Namira was in Ottawa as part of his first-ever Canadian tour, which is a fundraiser for Islamic Relief Canada's projects in Egypt. PeaceMidan, a non-profit organization which aims to build on the momentum of the Arab Spring in order to foster civic engagement and social entrepreneurship in Arab countries, organized Namira's visit. “Hamza Namira is the voice of hope, not only in Egypt but in the Middle East region,” explained Mohamed Abouelsaoud, co-founder and vice-president of PeaceMidan.

Prominent religious leaders from North American Sunni and Shi'a Muslim communities have developed an agreement meant to stem violence and tension between their respective communities.

The Washington Declaration For the Protection of Nations and Societies from the Menace of Sectarian Violence aims to facilitate mutual respect and unity between Muslim communities in North America and address the rise in sectarian violence in countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria.

Human Concern International (HCI) held its 33rd Annual Charity Dinner on Friday, September 27th with a theme of hope interwoven throughout the evening.

This year's keynote speaker was Dr. Norman Cook, a former director with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) who retired in 2006 but has continued to work in the field in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Muslim Family Services of Ottawa (MFSO) is working with the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa (CAS) to implement the Shared Journeys project which aims to improve communication and collaboration between CAS and Ottawa's Muslim communities.

The impetus for the project arises from the work of the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration (MRCSSI) of London, Ontario which has worked with that city's CAS to dramatically reduce the number of Muslim children who are taken into care. MRCSSI received $285,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and another $70,000 from the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General in order to expand the project to York, Kingston, and Ottawa.

Yaman Marwah and Rama Imadi are the founders of the Syrian Association of Ottawa (SAO) which began as a regular university-based students' cultural association.

Mr. Marwah, SAO's President, is a 4th year student in Law and Economics at Carleton University. Ms. Imadi, SAO's Vice-President, is a 4th year student in Linguistics at the University of Ottawa. Both were galvanized by the March 2011 revolution in Syria to take action to raise awareness about the struggle of Syria's people against the regime.

You may not know her name but you have probably seen her.

In 2011, Rasha Al-Katta's smiling face was visible across the city as part of the United Way's campaign to raise awareness about the organization. Volunteers like Ms. Al-Katta were asked to pose for the posters instead of models.

“I thought it would be fun. I didn't even know that it would be splattered everywhere. I thought it would just be in the newspaper but then people started texting me ”˜Rasha we saw your poster in Rideau or at Place D'Orleans!'. It was pretty exciting,” Ms. Al-Katta shared.

Muslim Link checked out one of the weekly iftars organized by the University of Ottawa's Muslim Students' Association (MSA) on Wednesday, July 24th. Hundreds of people, mainly University of Ottawa students, attended theiftar where food was mainly provided by students and their families.