Community Spotlight…
The Muslim Journal Newswire
Muslim Journal Issue Vol 46, No 5, October 16, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hamid Saahir is a 2020 graduate of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, where he was the 2019-20 President of the Student Bar Association.
He also serves He also serves on the Board of Advisors for The Nation’s Mosque, Masjid Muhammad of D.C. Hamid is a core organizer of Black American Muslims’ voter engagement via bam-vote.com. He will practice civil litigation, civil rights, personal injury, and elder law upon his admission into the bar.
Currently, he is a consultant with WCP Communications where he has helped with public relations on cases including police brutality cases of Jacob Blake and Joel Acevedo, cases led by Attorneys Ben Crump and B’Ivory LaMarr.
Mr. Saahir is also a law clerk with the law offices of Mohamed Bamba, located in Baltimore, Maryland. During the summer of 2019, he interned with the Law Offices of Don Temple, where he worked on commercial and employment litigation matters.
During the summer of 2018, Mr. Saahir interned with the Office of the People’s Counsel of the District of Columbia, where he worked on consumer protection litigation matters on the behalf of Washington, D.C. utility consumers.
From 2015 to 2019, he was a full-time high school teacher at McKinley Tech High School in Washington, DC, where he taught Web Design, 3D Modeling, and Computer Applications. As a law student, he conducted multiple education series on technology for barred attorneys.
During the summer of 2017, Mr. Saahir interned with D.C. Law Students in Court (now Rising for Justice) assisting low income and elderly residents with housing issues in Landlord Tenant Court.
No stranger to social justice, he has served in leadership capacities as the Second Vice President for the Indianapolis Branch of the NAACP, Deputy Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and Chair of Indy Juneteenth Celebration.
While a student at Indiana State University, Mr. Saahir founded Spoke-N-Heard — a spoken word organization — which, after 15 years, remains a campus hallmark under its new name “Bless The Mic.” Mr. Saahir whenever possible speaks to students to provide mentorship and advice.
After college, Mr. Saahir started 4Cast Magazine, a print and online publication geared toward urban entertainment and marketing. In operations for nearly five years, this independent publication challenged the status quo for marketing in Indianapolis, Indiana while providing employment and internship opportunities to recent college graduates.
Mr. Saahir was the Vice-Chair of the Law Student Division of the National Bar Association and served on Washington, DC’s H-Street Festival planning committee.
“Legacy Muslim” has become a term used for Muslim African Americans whose parents and grandparents were the first generation of Muslims in the United States, descendants of former enslaved Africans who came in shackles from many African Muslim homelands.
As their offspring, these younger generation Muslims have picked up the mantle of their fore parents and carry it forward to realize their dreams – returning to their original faith of Al Islam in the Land of Plenty.
Hamid Saahir is the son of pioneering Muslims Imam Michael “Mikal” and Carolyn Saahir of Indianapolis, Ind. He is married to Laila Aboubakar and they have one daughter – Nia Ayesha Saahir.
