Remembering Dr. Rahman

Lifelong community and civil rights activist Ahmad Rahman died September 21. The University of Michigan-Dearborn associate professor of history was 64.

A Chicago native, Rahman joined the Chicago branch of the Black Panther Party in 1968. There, he became involved in community organizing, working on the Free Breakfast for Children program and educating gang members about the destructive nature of gang violence. After Rahman transferred to the Detroit branch, he worked with the organization to improve education, business and housing developments in the black community and to increase community control of the police.

In 1971, Rahman was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder. He served nearly 22 years before his sentence was commuted, and he would later speak about how he was a victim of the FBI’s domestic counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO.

While incarcerated, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University and later earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in history from U-M Ann Arbor.

Rahman joined the UM-Dearborn faculty in 2004, teaching courses in history and African and African American Studies. He was one of the rotating directors of the African and African American Studies program (AAAS) and was part of the committee that was in place when the AAAS major launched in 2013. He connected with students outside the classroom as well, serving as faculty adviser for the Black Student Union on several occasions and annually participating in the Soul of Success Retreat.

“I long stopped counting the number of students who, when asked about their most influential UM-Dearborn professor, responded with ‘Professor Rahman,’” said Martin Hershock, dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters. “While many students noted his approachability and eagerness to help, all of them noted how he pushed them to rethink their assumptions and how he challenged them with alternative points of view.”

The Michigan Council for the Social Studies recognized Rahman in 2013 as its College Professor of the Year.

“Dr. Rahman did much more than teach his students; he opened up their minds in ways that changed them profoundly,” Hershock said. “His imprint did not stop with students. His faculty and staff colleagues in the college also always appreciated his candor, his fairness, and his sincerity. We are already sorely missing his presence among us.”

Rahman’s research focused on global Pan-African movements, the history of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in the United States, and the history of Africa and the African diaspora in America and Europe. He authored two books: The Regime change of Kwame Nkrumah: Epic Heroism in Africa and the Diaspora and Liberated Territory: Untold Perspectives on the Black Panther Party.

Even as his academic career grew, Rahman remained committed to community activism, saying, “I have always worked to balance academic achievement with what I regard as the more important goals for Detroit of achieving real solutions. At one time during my youth, I called myself a revolutionary. Now, I see myself as more of a ‘solutionary.’”

His recent efforts included working with Detroit Public Schools to enhance the content of African American history in the curriculum—creating online modules for teachers to use—and creating Cyberdad, a mentoring program that distributes the phone numbers and email addresses of volunteer mentors to at-risk Detroit youth. He also spoke nationally and internationally about civil rights and the African American community.

“Ahmad spent his life as a man of both principle and action. Whether on the street, in prison, or as a scholar and teacher, he worked for freedom, justice and equality,” said Ismael Ahmed, associate provost for metropolitan impact. “In particular, his work in the civil rights movement, his role as a Muslim fighting Islamophobia and his active role with the Detroit Public Schools exemplify the character of this great man.”

A campus vigil will be held Thursday, September 24, at 6:30 p.m. in the Social Sciences Building, room 1500. The vigil has been organized by the Black Student Union and the African American Alumni Affiliate.

A community memorial will be held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Saturday, October 3, at 1 p.m., with a reception following at 4 p.m. at the University of Michigan Detroit Center, 3663 Woodward Avenue.