Umar Lee

Coming from a white Protestant background, Lee converted to Sunni Islam in the 1990s, and quickly associated himself within the Salafi movement.{{harvnb|Kahn|2016|p=125}} In 2007, Lee authored a ten post blog series entitled The Rise and Fall of the Salafi Movement, which focused mostly on black converts to Salafism in the United States, in a lineage of interest in Islam which he traced from Malcolm X onward. Lee's writing about the movement portrayed his disillusionment with various aspects of the Salafi movement such as a separation from the real world, divisions, and overseas influence.{{harvnb|Kahn|2016|p=126}} During this time, Lee's blog won the award for "best series" in the Brass Crescent Awards.{{cite web|url=http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/fourth_annual_brass_crescent_award_winners_announced|title=The Thirteenth Annual Brass Crescent Awards|publisher=}} In 2017, Lee criticized the Georgetown Islamic Studies Professor Jonathan Brown after he attended his lecture on slavery.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/444936/jonathan-brown-slavery-lecture-islamic-sharia-protects-slaves|title=Professor Uses Lecture to Defend Islamic Slavery|website=National Review |date=15 February 2017|publisher=}}

Lee, while working as a cab driver, campaigned against the introduction of ride-share companies to the St. Louis Market.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/umar-lee/cab-drivers-uber_b_5179635.html|title=Why Progressives Should Think Twice About Embracing Uber and Lyft|first=Umar|last=Lee|website=HuffPost |date=April 19, 2014|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/st-louis-cab-driver-compares-lyft-to-walmart-blasts-hipsters/article_6d44b4ed-91ca-57c2-a44c-39b961e07934.html|title=St. Louis cab driver compares Lyft to Walmart, blasts 'hipsters'|first=Nicholas J.C.|last=Pistor|publisher=}} In 2014, Lee covered the Ferguson unrest and was interviewed on several national outlets. During his coverage of the events, Lee was arrested on two occasions {{Cite web|url=http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/police-abuses-can-t-stand-scrutiny-of-social-media-live/article_dd486708-49d1-11e4-9734-8fedcbcd786a.html|title = Police abuses can't stand scrutiny of social media, live-streaming}} Lee was subsequently fired as a cab driver and contended that it was for his political activities in Ferguson.{{cite web|url=http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/columns/joe-holleman/high-profile-stl-cabbie-says-he-was-fired-for-political/article_1a2cf4b0-f0a0-549a-a8db-8159bebefc9e.html|title=High-profile STL cabbie says he was fired for political stances|first=Joe|last=Holleman|publisher=}} In 2016 Lee briefly announced he was running for St. Louis Mayor as a Republican.{{cite web|url=http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/columns/joe-holleman/protest-figure-umar-lee-withdraws-from-mayoral-race/article_d02bf70b-9ff5-5126-ab68-6f863a30cea3.html|title=Protest figure Umar Lee withdraws from mayoral race|first=Joe|last=Holleman|publisher=}} Lee also writes Noir Literature that is based in St. Louis.{{cite web|url=http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/reviews/st-louis-noir-isn-t-the-sunny-side-of-our/article_e505c197-90b6-52fa-94bc-4eb2107f6bf0.html|title='St. Louis Noir' isn't the sunny side of our city|first=Harry Levins Special to the|last=Post-Dispatch|publisher=}}

Since June 2018, Lee hosted St. Louis Speaks, a podcast that fosters dialogue about St. Louis and the surrounding area. The podcast was co-created and is produced by historian Mark Loehrer {{Cite web|url=https://www.stlmag.com/culture/umar-lee-on-his-new-podcast-st-louis-speaks/|title = With his new podcast, St. Louis Speaks, Umar Lee wants to spark a conversation about the region|date = 6 June 2018}} .In 2020, the podcast changed its name to Informal History STL and added several local historians and writers while adding a quarterly print publication. In 2021, he began hosting a podcast with Father Augustine Wetta entitled "Disagreement."{{Cite book |last=Wetta |first=J Augustine Wetta, Umar Lee |date=5 October 2021 |title=Disagreement |url=https://www.audible.com/pd/item_name-Podcast/episodes/B08K58B52F?ref=a_pd_Podcas_c3_episodes_view_all&pf_rd_p=625c212d-b95a-47db-8d56-d35a359de6e9&pf_rd_r=Q50ZFCA03VWWVEPEPE4P |access-date=29 April 2022 |via=Audible}}

Umar Lee{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=BOP Federal Prisoner Search for BOP # 09576-055 Brett D Lee Released 1/19/2001|url=https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Federal Bureau of Prisons}} was born to James D. Lee and Karen Arnold, in St Louis, Missouri into a blue collar family. Lee's 19-year old nephew, an aspiring SoundCloud rapper named "Shelbyon Polk" (also known as "Lil' Chubb"), was found dead with gunshot wounds to his torso on Thanksgiving Day 2017 in St Louis.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/police-release-ids-of-killed-in-st-louis-from-thanksgiving/article_d17e9a4e-dfab-5a9c-aa1c-63ff550e48cd.html|title = Police release IDs of 6 killed in St. Louis from Thanksgiving through Sunday}} Lee's mother, Karen Arnold, was murdered on December 18, 2018 in Kirkwood, Missouri by unknown assailants who broke into her apartment while she was sleeping and shot her.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-killed-at-kirkwood-apartment-complex/article_55fedbc2-0a83-565a-9217-c5574f4f17ac.html|title = Woman, 64, killed at Kirkwood apartment complex}}

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• {{cite book |title=Race and Secularism in America|last=Kahn|first=Jonathon S.|year=2016|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231541275}}

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• [https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Salafi-Dawah-America-ebook/dp/B00I1AEYL2 The Rise and Fall of the Salafi Dawah in America: a memoir by Umar Lee]

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Category:1974 births

Category:Living people

Category:American male writers

Category:American political activists

Category:Writers from St. Louis

Category:Converts to Islam from Protestantism

Category:American Salafis

Category:Muslims from Missouri

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