Mubarik Ismaeli is an alumni of Westinghouse Academy, having graduated with the class of 1999. In high school and beyond Mubarik was, and still is, an active member of his community and always looks to help foster the growth of those around him, especially the youth he mentors. Since graduation Mubarik has been a pillar of the Homewood community, giving back in anyway he can to the community that he grew up in through sports and multiple community outreach efforts.
“We talking about life and death here when we’re dealing with young black boys,” he said. “And I teach to them that everything we’re doing right now is to set them up in a better position. And as black people as a whole, we have to start thinking like that.”
Early Days and Roots
Mubarik has been involved heavily with the Homewood community since his youth, as his father was as well. Mubarik’s father, a Black Panther, was an activist in Homewood and active member of the community for all of Mubarik’s youth. His father was one of the founders of the Harambee black arts festival and was involved with the CCAC summer camps as well, which he made sure his sons became involved in. Mubarik attended a muslim school for the early years of his childhood, then found himself homeschooled before heading to Westinghouse in ninth grade where he continued being his own individual and becoming a leader among students and involved in sports.
Coach Mu
Mubarik, or Coach Mu as the young men who he coaches and mentor know him, has taken on his own role as a positive pillar of the community. Mubarik has been recognized for his work in the community as the president of Homewood Community sports and as a coach within the organization. Recently he was interviewed as part of a community interview series called “Crossing fences”. In this interview he discussed the importance of activism within the community and community betterment through youth engagement. He also discusses the idea as having each others back as a community and investing time and effort in one another. “We talking about life and death here when we’re dealing with young black boys,” he said. “And I teach to them that everything we’re doing right now is to set them up in a better position. And as black people as a whole, we have to start thinking like that.”
You can read more about the interview with Mubarik and entire crossing fences program here.
Community Involvement Beyond Sports
Mubarik has become involved in the Homewood community outside of the realm of sports. He has become an active member of the Homewood community development collaborative. This organization is an effort between community leaders in Homewood to create a unified and comprehensive development process in addressing the needs of the community. Its no surprise Mubarik would become involved with an effort like this as one of the main commitments and goals of the collaborative is to create a fully inclusive planning environment and involve everyone they can in bettering the community. To listen to those spearheading the effort, Mubarik included, speak about their efforts and ideas you can watch a discussion and presentation hosted by Pitt here.
