Charles Bilal was mayor of
Kountze, Texas, USA. He is notable for being the first Muslim in America to be elected as an American Muslim to a US municipality.
[Bruce Taylor Seeman]
"MUSLIM SCHOOL GETS HELP FROM TEXAS TOWN'S MAYOR \ THE NATION'S FIRST MUSLIM MAYOR VISITED NORFOLK TO HELP THE SCHOOL RAISE MONEY"
''The Virginian-Pilot'' (archive), February 21, 1993
Bilal lives in Kountze where, in 1991, he was elected as the first Muslim mayor of a US municipality. He is a motivational speaker and has had invitations to Saudi Arabia, sponsored by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. In 1994, Bilal participated in a political council on how American Muslims can be elected to political offices.
He was the first US mayor to receive an official invitation from the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia via the owner of ''Amanah'' magazine, Lukman Umar. During his ten-day visit in 1993, he spoke to audiences on the importance of American Muslim elections to the political arena.
Accomplishments
* Appointment as member of the World Council of Mayors by the Hon. Mayor
Johnny Ford
Johnny L. Ford (born August 23, 1942 in Midway, Alabama) is an American politician and mayor of Tuskegee, Alabama, and a former Alabama State Representative.
Early life and education
He was raised as a child and attended elementary school in ...
of Tuskegee, Alabama. Ford was the founder of the National Conference of Black Mayors in Washington, D.C., on April 28, 1994.
* In 1994, Bilal arranged the visit by
Muhammad Ali to Kountze, initiating funding for a youth center.
* Bilal was a sponsor at the DeQuincy Louisiana State Prison giving motivational lectures to the Muslim community within the institution, 1970-1993.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilal, Charles
Mayors of places in Texas
African-American Muslims
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
African-American mayors in Texas
People from Kountze, Texas
21st-century African-American people