• Ethel Sharrieff (1922-2002) was the daughter of the second leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), Elijah Muhammad. She encouraged her father to allow women in the organization to play more significant roles. Her daughter Ea Sharon Sharrieff told the Chicago Tribune in 2002: “[Ethel Sharrieff] told women to walk beside the men, not behind them.”

• The Nation of Islam is a political and religious organization, founded with the goal of improving the spiritual, social, and economic condition of African Americans. Wallace D. Fard Muhammad founded the NOI on July 4, 1930.

• Ethel Sharrieff’s bakery, Eat Ethel’s Pastries, was the first such enterprise owned by the NOI. Later, Sharrieff managed an NOI clothing factory and store in Chicago.

• Parks, a photographer and writer for Life magazine from 1948 to 1968, photographed Sharrieff as part of his assignment to document the Black Muslim community. He received the assignment after several white reporters from Life failed to gain access.

• Parks documented day-to-day aspects of the Black Muslim community, ranging from family prayer to men’s exercise sessions, and wrote poignant essays discussing the complexities of race relations.