Dr. Hisham Aidi

Hisham Aidi is a political scientist, journalist and filmmaker who teaches international relations at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author and editor of several works, including Black Routes to Islam (2009) and Rebel Music: Race, Empire and the New Muslim Youth Culture (2015).

Dr. Aidi is winner of the American Book Award (2015), the Hip Hop Scholar Award (2016) and the Carnegie Scholar Award. 
 
From 2004-2011, he was a leading researcher for Columbia’s Malcolm X Project (2004-2011), and contributing editor of Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics Culture and Society. Dr Aidi is part of an international academic network building the field of Malcolm X Studies.
 
Dr Aidi has also long worked in the community, leading the Harlem Tutorial Program at International House, volunteering in education programs at Rikers Island, and using film and radio to archive the history of Harlem. On this topic, Dr Aidi and Dr Sophie Schrago have directed and produced multiple short documentaries – including Malcolm X and the Sudanese (2020), Sister Aisha: Queen Mother of Harlem – about our very own Sister Aisha al-Adawiyya – and currently in the works The Original Halal B-Boy (2025), the story of Bronx-born choreographer and Sufi sheikh Mohammed Reeves.

Dr. Aidi is historical researcher for the Shabazz Center team that spearheaded the new art exhibit on the global Malcolm X.