Michelle Johnson – författare

When Guinean Muslims leave their homeland, they encounter radically new versions of Islam and new approaches to religion more generally. In Remaking Islam in African Portugal, Michelle C. Johnson explores the religious lives of these migrants in the context of diaspora. Since Islam arrived in West Africa centuries ago, Muslims in this region have long conflated ethnicity and Islam, such that to be Mandinga or Fula is also to be Muslim. But as they increasingly encounter Muslims not from Africa, as well as other ways of being Muslim, they must question and revise their understanding of "proper" Muslim belief and practice. Many men, in particular, begin to separate African custom from global Islam. Johnson maintains that this cultural intersection is highly gendered as she shows how Guinean Muslim men in Lisbon—especially those who can read Arabic, have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and attend Friday prayer at Lisbon's central mosque—aspire to be cosmopolitan Muslims. By contrast, Guinean women—many of whom never studied the Qur'an, do not read Arabic, and feel excluded from the mosque—remain more comfortably rooted in African custom. In response, these women have created a "culture club" as an alternative Muslim space where they can celebrate life course rituals and Muslim holidays on their own terms. Remaking Islam in African Portugal highlights what being Muslim means in urban Europe and how Guinean migrants' relationships to their ritual practices must change as they remake themselves and their religion.

When Guinean Muslims leave their homeland, they encounter radically new versions of Islam and new approaches to religion more generally. In Remaking Islam in African Portugal, Michelle C. Johnson explores the religious lives of these migrants in the context of diaspora. Since Islam arrived in West Africa centuries ago, Muslims in this region have long conflated ethnicity and Islam, such that to be Mandinga or Fula is also to be Muslim. But as they increasingly encounter Muslims not from Africa, as well as other ways of being Muslim, they must question and revise their understanding of "proper" Muslim belief and practice. Many men, in particular, begin to separate African custom from global Islam. Johnson maintains that this cultural intersection is highly gendered as she shows how Guinean Muslim men in Lisbon—especially those who can read Arabic, have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and attend Friday prayer at Lisbon's central mosque—aspire to be cosmopolitan Muslims. By contrast, Guinean women—many of whom never studied the Qur'an, do not read Arabic, and feel excluded from the mosque—remain more comfortably rooted in African custom. In response, these women have created a "culture club" as an alternative Muslim space where they can celebrate life course rituals and Muslim holidays on their own terms. Remaking Islam in African Portugal highlights what being Muslim means in urban Europe and how Guinean migrants' relationships to their ritual practices must change as they remake themselves and their religion.

What would you do if everything you thought to be true in your life was a lie?Sixteen-year-old Angel Seriki must face overwhelming truths about her family when she meets Zander Black, a new student to her high school who is smart, charming and devastatingly beautiful. The revelations he uncovers to her about her family''s past changes everything, and as her relationship and feelings for Zander deepen, so do the risks involved. She must now accept her fate and face the true reality of who and what she is. Even if that means giving up everything, including being human.

This book will open your eyes to Gods way of doing things in the cosmetology industry. Your business will excel, your clients will be blessed, and the spirit of excellence will dominate your salon.Michelle Johnson and her family reside in Memphis, Tennessee.

God Loves You Circle is an uplifting series of short stories based on the life of the author and her family. Learn to find God in unlikely places, and draw miraculous encouragement from daily life. You will laugh; you will cry; but most of all, you will draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Come rest in the arms of the Lord and learn how God Loves You Circle. After receiving Jesus Christ as her personal Savior in 2001, Michelle Johnson has passionately pursued the exhortation to "go into the world and preach the gospel." Her focus on encouraging women through practical biblical wisdom is refreshing and unique. Michelle is a graduate of the Wisconsin Bible Institute.The older woman was dark-skinned and her ragged appearance spoke of a hard life. She walked toward me with slight limp and her back was stooped from age. Her thick, wiry hair was unkempt and stuck out everywhere in unwashed clumps. It was parted in the middle, and two streaks of silver-white hair led me to believe she was in her mid-sixties. She had many layers of dirty, drab clothes on, and a blanket on top of them. Her dark, fingerless gloves were tattered and torn, with strands of weathered yarn hanging from them. Everything about her said she was homeless and alone. "Do you have any spare change?" came her shaky voice as she looked at me with pleading eyes. My heart broke knowing I had nothing to give her. Lord, what have I to give this child of yours? Softly, the childhood hymn, "Silver and Gold Have I None," drifted across my mind: but such as I have give I thee... "Oh, honey," I said tenderly, putting my hand on her arm, "the only thing I have to offer you is the Kingdom of Heaven." "Oh," she gasped, her eyes welling with tears, "Oh, how could I ask for more than that?"