Meet Our April Muslims of the Month: Bilal & Breonna Walker!

By: Alaa Essafi

Last April, Bilal, and Breonna Walker were looking for a project to channel their passion for environmental justice, advocacy for the underserved and that would alleviate the devastating effects the pandemic had on their community in Newark. Through the Adopt A Lot program, the couple leased a vacant lot for a dollar. Upon finding the lot to be filled with litter and drug paraphernalia, they set out to beautify their lot, which already featured colorful graffiti art on three of its walls. 

Together, they came up with the idea to found a community garden called Jannah on Grafton, that would provide educational resources on sustainable environmental practices, fresh, organic produce, and immersive leadership programs for youth. In the past year, they have fed over 450 families through produce grown in their lot and donated items. 

“Being Muslims, we recognized the importance of sowing seeds based on the hadith of the Prophet, which is charitable outcomes with gaining hasant (good deeds). The Prophet encouraged us to be aware of our surroundings. Food insecurity is a serious issue in this city, so we were influenced by Islam and encouraged even more by just living in the community we serve. We’re both educators and advocates in the city of Newark, so things are aligned by the decree of Allah,” they said. 

The origin story for the name was that the couple wanted to reflect their Islamic faith and bring light to Grafton Avenue. The meaningful name translates to “Paradise on Grafton”, as it serves as a beacon of hope for families who may have limited access to fresh, organic produce. 

On April 24th, they hosted their first volunteer day. Community members and volunteers came out to transform the 15-year-old abandoned lot into a vibrant space that serves as a place of pride, community, and unity during these unprecedented times. 

“We pulled all the weeds out and cleaned up drug paraphernalia with the suitable boots and gloves. We turned it into a beautiful, kind of a park, and kids would come and run around the lot. Something as simple as making a piece of your community look beautiful brings joy to people’s lives. The kids enjoyed it,” Breonna described. 

The couple faced roadblocks during their founding of the project, as the COVID-19 pandemic limited their outreach capacity and there were also aspects of urban farming unfamiliar to Bilal and Breonna. They were able to get gardening lessons from Tobias Fox, a local urban farmer. The result, however, was an outpouring of community support and admiration for their efforts to uplift their community in a time of dire need. 

“Everything we got was donated, and we didn’t have to come out of pocket for it. The community support has been amazing. We were very surprised and overwhelmed, but it was a joy to see that the community responded so well,” they said. 

This summer, they will be doing smaller educational programs with the youth on environmental justice. They are also in the process of finalizing their non-profit, Urban Seeds Grow. 

Another major program they plan to roll out is called Planet Newark, an ambassador program for organizations and small local businesses to dedicate 15 hours of community service to their farms. In addition, these organizations will spread the word of Jannah on Grafton with their networks.

“We reached out to organizations that are already engaged in community work and are for-profit organizations, so we can highlight the work that they’re doing and vice versa. They can curate different events at our farms to market the products and services that they offer to the community, so most of what we do always ties to collaborative efforts and cooperative economics. We believe in our business and the power of supporting small businesses,” they said. 

Bilal serves as an educator at LEAD Chart School, the first alternative high school in New Jersey. Students can access tools and resources to equip themselves for success once they complete their high school diploma and certification in their chosen career track. “The school is focused on empowering youth who’ve been disconnected from high school,” he said. Bilal is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Child Advocacy and Policy from Montclair State University. 

As a mental health professional, Breanna uses her research and platform to relay the importance of mobilizing the Muslim population to create welcoming spaces for community members. Her mission is to engage in and encourage judgment-free conversations about mental health in the Muslim community. 

She shared the inspiration that shaped her decision to launch her initiative as well as how the pieces fell into place once they began Jannah on Grafton,

“I’ve been sitting on this idea of menstrual equity and inequity awareness for a long time. When I was an educator, in the classroom, I would have some of my students come up to me and tell me that they don’t have access to period products. I never knew that was a thing that young women struggle with because alhamdulillah, I’ve always had the opportunity to have the resources to purchase the products that I needed for my menstrual cycle.” 

Previously, Breonna founded an initiative called Power to the Period, but as she aims to mesh Jannah on Grafton and her women’s health programs, she has relaunched with the new name, Free the Flow. It is a comprehensive women’s health program that fuses the couple’s mission of environmental justice and menstrual inequity. The garden became the perfect place to implement a one-stop period bank with cabinets made from reclaimed wood for women to have access to period products, hand sanitizer, wipes, and access to other essential services for free. 

“It’s all part of the systemic racist society that we live in, unfortunately, and it’s important to spread awareness about it. Women’s health and period poverty is near and dear to my heart, and I’m excited for us to relaunch this initiative over the summer,” Breonna said.

She half-jokingly acknowledges the fatigue and burnout that results in taking up community activism and service. 

“This work isn’t easy and sometimes we get people that say we make it look easy but it’s a lot about teamwork, it’s a lot about communication, and we’re continuing to learn about each other as spouses in our spiritual journey. We make sure that we have breaks for us to get away and regroup,” she said. 

To contact Jannah on Grafton, reach out to jannahongrafton@gmail.com. Also, visit their social media page for updates concerning their projects here!