Biography

Leonard C. McKinnis, II is Assistant Professor of Religion and Black Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. McKinnis is a scholar of Black Religions. His work has been supported by the Louisville Institute, the American Academy of Religion, and Mellon Faculty Fellowships. In 2023 he was named the Sankofa Scholar at Emory University in the Candler School of Theology. Dr. McKinnis’ research sits at the intersection of new religious movements, religion and identity, lived religion, and ethnographic approaches to the study of religion. His first book, The Black Coptic Church: Race, Religion, and Imagination in a New Religion, was published in 2023 with New York University (NYU) Press in their Race, Religion, and Ethnicity Series. He is currently working on a book tentatively titled, "Everyday Muslim: Religion and the Construction of Black Identity in the Nation of Islam." This ethnographic work explores the relationship between religious performance, identity, and world making in the Nation of Islam. He is the interim Executive Director of the Society for the Study of Black Religion.

Crossroads Community Stories Fellow Project

The Messenger’s Residence: A Virtual Conservation of the Elijah Muhammad Home

There in the historic Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park boasts an array of significant homes and venues important to the study of Black religions. Among these, on the corner of 48th and Woodlawn, is the former dwelling of the Nation of Islam’s messenger, Elijah Muhammad, now known as the Elijah Muhammad House Museum. This Community Stories project centers our attention on the significance of homes and dwelling places in the formation of emergent Black religions like the Nation of Islam, and the importance of preserving such venues. It contributes to the safeguarding of important history of one the most consequential diasporic Black religions in the United States.

The Prophet’s Residence, possible because of a unique research partnership with the Nation of Islam and the Elijah Muhammad House Museum, focuses on the conservation of important and, in many cases, never seen before, archival material. The particularity of this collaboration concentrates on curating a digital education platform of the Elijah Muhammad House. Visitors to the virtual space will have access to select speeches, films, and photographs covering the formative years of the Nation of Islam, including correspondences between Elijah Muhammad and key figures of the civil rights era. The virtual exploration will also walk visitors through select rooms of the House Museum, bringing to life historical moments captured inside the space, inclusive of meetings, visitors, and gatherings that were instrumental in the nascent through the climax years of the Nation of Islam. Visitors to the site will have access to a four-part digital story-telling podcast attentive to the significance of the Elijah Muhammad House.