ABOUT DR. TASLEEM FIRDAUSEE
Dr. Tasleem Jamila Firdausee is an interdisciplinary scholar, internationally award-winning poet, multidisciplinary artist, journalist, filmmaker, and holistic wellness practitioner whose work bridges scholarship, sacred art, spirituality, and healing. Rooted in Black Southern, African diasporic, and Islamic traditions, her work explores the intersections of culture, faith, gender, race, memory, and social justice while advancing healing-centered approaches to education, community engagement, and artistic expression. Her work has been featured by ABC News, NPR, BBC, the Chicago Tribune, and numerous international media outlets. She has presented and performed throughout the United States and internationally in Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Canada, England, and Malaysia.
Scholarship & Academic Leadership
Dr. Firdausee earned her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Western Michigan University, integrating world religions and cultures with sociology and anthropology. Her scholarship focuses on Black women's healing practices, Sufism, Islam in West Africa and the United States, religion in the African Diaspora, transnationalism, decolonial studies, Black Muslim women, and the sociology of religion. She also holds a Master of Arts in Spirituality, Culture, and Health, a graduate certificate in Holistic Approaches to Mindfulness, and a bachelor's degree in Complementary and Alternative Health. She has pursued traditional studies in Islam and Arabic with master teachers. Her research has been presented nationally and internationally at major conferences in sociology, anthropology, religious studies, Black studies, and African Diaspora studies. Her scholarship has been supported through numerous academic grants and research awards recognizing both her interdisciplinary research and community-engaged scholarship.
She is the author of From Mississippi Clay to African Skies in Search of Sacred Presence, Black Baptist Muslim Mystic: From the Cosmos, The Women's Guide to Holistic Healing, and the acclaimed stage play Portals Open. Black Baptist Muslim Mystic is currently taught in classrooms across the United States alongside its accompanying curriculum. In 2024, Dr. Firdausee was invited by Western Michigan University's Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations to interview Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, live before a standing-room-only audience during a special university event.
Poet, Artist & Cultural Creative
An internationally recognized spoken word artist, Dr. Firdausee has spent more than two decades using poetry as a vehicle for healing, liberation, and spiritual transformation. Throughout her artistic career, she has shared stages with legendary artists including Mos Def, KRS-One, Tinariwen, the Rock Steady Crew, and many others. She was invited to perform at the Malcolm X 85th Birthday Commemoration at the Shabazz Center in New York, and at MocaFest in London where Prince Charles and several Presidents from multiple countries were in attendance. Her creative collaborations span multiple generations of groundbreaking artists and musicians. She has recorded alongside and worked with Abiodun Oyewole (The Last Poets), MacArthur Genius composer Reginald R. Robinson, Professor Griff of Public Enemy, producer Aki Dawson, internationally acclaimed poet Amir Sulaiman, composer Khari Lemuel, and engineer Royal Bayan.
Her musical training includes advanced study in voice as well as coursework in "Music and the Cosmos" under legendary jazz innovator Phil Cohran. She also studied composition with Reginald R. Robinson, Kerwin Young, and Khari Lemuel. As a recording artist, Dr. Firdausee has released two studio albums, Tasleem and Activated, blending spoken word, jazz, hip-hop, spirituality, and world music. Her award-winning play 'Portals Open' was featured during the Chicago Hip-Hop Festival and selected for the Pan African Arts Festival in South Africa.
Journalism, Media & Film
Dr. Firdausee hosts Art As Sacred podcast interviewing artist from around the world about their sacred process. For more than a decade (2002-2013) she also served as a radio host and producer, interviewing hundreds of artists, scholars, historians, faith leaders, activists, and cultural visionaries from around the world. Among those she has interviewed are First Lady Michelle Obama, Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, Public Enemy, Dead Prez, KRS-One, Black Sheep, and numerous internationally recognized scholars and artists. Her work extends into filmmaking and acting. She directed 'My Journey Home', a documentary exploring identity, heritage, and spiritual healing through her experiences in Ghana. She has appeared in the films Love Jones, A Hip-Hop Journey with the Ancestors (celebrating Oscar Brown Jr.), New Muslim Cool, and a documentary on domestic violence exhibited at a New York cultural museum. Her life and artistic journey have also been the subject of a documentary by Lunar Butterfly Productions.
Dr. Firdausee is the founder and CEO of My Soul Speaks Institute, an international educational platform dedicated to sacred arts, holistic healing, contemplative education, and transformational leadership. She also serves as Executive Director of the Art As Sacred Initiative creating events, funding, and experiences for future artists.
A certified yoga teacher, certified meditation instructor, sound healing therapist, energy healer, and holistic health practitioner, Dr. Firdausee integrates ancient wisdom traditions with contemporary scholarship to create deeply transformative educational experiences. Since 2023, she has curated and facilitated the Immersed Series, offering in-person and virtual healing experiences throughout the United States for universities, nonprofits, corporations, and private organizations. In 2012, she created the Queen Series in Chicago, bringing together more than 100 women for an immersive experience combining scholarship, poetry, holistic nutrition, healing arts, and spiritual empowerment.
Her community work includes designing healing-centered programming for women, youth, healthcare organizations, and social justice initiatives. As an activist poet, she has written and performed commissioned works for the American Cancer Society, domestic violence organizations, Peace in the Streets campaigns, Youth Peace Summits, and numerous community initiatives dedicated to healing and empowerment.
Across every dimension of her work, Dr. Tasleem Jamila Firdausee demonstrates how scholarship, sacred art, and holistic healing can become powerful tools for individual transformation and collective liberation.
MY STORY
I grew up on the Southside of Chicago in a family with five girls, with parents from Mississippi and Alabama. As long as I can remember, I was imitating actors on TV, playing with worms in the dirt, dancing and twirling in the living room, playing the piano, and being loved on by extended family and neighbors on my block. I’ve been writing creative stories since I was nine years old and developed a deep love for fashion, creating several fashion lines for clients and artists in Chicago, as well as major record labels in New York, by the age of 19.
I have always had a deep and intimate relationship with God, witnessing both my father’s and mother’s personal religious and spiritual journeys, which influenced me to talk to God daily. Throughout our home were healing herbal books and a garden in the backyard, which—today, as a holistic wellness coach and educator—became the foundation of what I still practice in my personal life and what I teach, guide, and share with others through my courses and events.
Over the years, many women in my family experienced health challenges that led me to take a deeper dive into my own health journey, first for myself and later for thousands of others through coaching, events, poetry, art, retreats, and scholarship.
Welcome to my space in this cyber world!
Let me know how I can serve you and how we can work together.
With Divine Love,
Dr. Tasleem