Bassam Tariq is a Boing Boing guestblogger who is the co-author of 30 Mosques. A blog that celebrated the NYC mosques during the Islamic month of Ramadan. He lives in Harlem, NY.

Never before have I seen my community photographed with such dignity and hope . Omar Mullick, an award winning photographer who shoots for National Geographic, NY Times, etc., has traveled all across America for 7 years documenting the elusive Muslim American community.

The photography will be on display at GalleryFCB Thursday, October 8th at 6:00 pm. The gallery runs for the entire month, but please join us at the opening of this historic exhibit. RSVP on the Facebook Event if you can.

Omar has given me the permission to showcase a handful of photos here at Boing Boing.

More images and info after the jump.

The first time I saw the photos I wondered why Omar chose black and white. Looking through the gallery statement on the site, I found my answer:

At a time when President Obama used the example of American Muslims in his Cairo address to indicate that Islam had "always been a part of America's story…" the exhibit presents a culmination of one photographers deliberate effort to take the visual language of black and white 35mm photography, through which 20th Century America has often looked at itself, and open up that narrative to include the latest birth pang in American cultural life. To that end, Can't Take It With You, which was pursued with singular purpose by a photographer deeply engaged with the idea of what it means to be American, promises to be one of the more important visual documents of the young 21st Century.

The photo I leave you with is of a Muslim women's shelter in Philadelphia, PA. It was the children's first day at the shelter. I wonder where they are now.

I will be doing a tiny interview with Omar Mullick at the end of the week, if anyone has a question they feel compelled to ask please write it in the comments and I'll try my best to get it answered.

Visit the Can't Take It With You site – www.galleryfcb.com

See more of Omar's work on his personal site – www.omarmullick.com