A Forgotten Voice

Nzinga Islam has long been on Google as “The wife of an alleged terrorist”. However, since then her life’s mission has been to erase that tagline from her name and instead be remembered as the CEO of They Told Me Not To Write, a black American publication brand highlighting the forgotten voice. Did her life’s work accomplish this 40-year plight she was determined to conquer, and has her only recent fame defended her cause to never be forgotten? 

In 2010, Nzinga Islam hit the headlines in the most unimaginable way. Having been an accomplished student and a potential success story for her peers and family, Islam was devastated as she became a stain in an error that most people would never forget. The period known as the War on Terror. And they did not. People remembered, articles still asked, and the internet never forgot. The pictures were proof; the words were documented, and the reality remained: Nzinga Islam was married to an alleged terrorist. 

Despite this, Islam continued to write, publish, and switch the narrative. Despite never mentioning this in any of her works, the image of her as “the wife of an American imprisoned abroad” persisted. Until Islam’s debut novel Sarah & Yusef, where she tells the story and it was not what people expected. Her debut novel was originally self-published by her own publishing company, but then later picked -up by a traditional publishing house. The book sold thousands of copies, but Islam still was not a household name. However, she used her author brand now to fundraise for the man in question and could finally get him out of prison 17 years later, but still not home. 

Nzinga Islam passed away never knowing if her label as the terrorist wife would ever leave but she would be proud to know that only now after her death did a greater mission succeed which is the coming home of an innocent American, her husband Sharif Mobley to 3 adult children, 7 grandchildren, 1 great-grand and the legacy his wife left behind but never forgot.