"Islam reconnects you with Africa and with other parts of the world so your peoplehood transcends race," Nadim Ali, the imam of the Community Masjid in one of Atlanta’s oldest and poorest neighborhoods, told Reuters on Sunday, February 25.

During a recent Friday sermon in the street-corner mosque, Ali recounted stories from history of Muslim slaves brought from Africa who struggled to uphold their faith in the face of slaveholders’ opposition, and urged the congregants to follow their example.

Imams in Atlanta, a US center for black Muslims, said they were subjected to less scrutiny than Muslims from the Middle East and Indian sub-continent.

Since the 9/11 attacks, American Muslims have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights, with a prevailing belief that America was targeting their faith.

Mark King, who wears his hair in dreadlocks, embraced Islam after visiting Africa for the first time.

He read the holy Qur’an in Gambia and realized its teaching chimed with his own beliefs, not least in fighting injustice.

African Americans are taking the full brunt of racism in the US, with estimates showing the community has the worst unemployment and housing crises in the country.

Reverts within the black community say they are attracted to the disciplines of prayer, the emphasis within Islam on submission to God and the religion’s affinity with people who are oppressed.

Democrat Keith Ellison, an African-American, recently made history becoming the first American Muslim elected to Congress.

Jack Ellis, the mayor of Macon in Georgia state, recently revealed he embraced Islam.

Ellis said he studied the Qur’an for years and found his destination in Islam following a trip to the African country of Senegal, noting that Islam was practiced by his ancestors before they were brought to North America as slaves.