I, Witness

Adama Bah grew up in East Harlem after immigrating from Conakry, Guinea, and was deeply connected to her community and the people who lived there. But as a 13-year-old after the events of September 11, 2001, she began experiencing discrimination and dehumanization as prejudice toward Muslim people grew. Then, on March 24, 2005, FBI agents arrested her and her father.

Falsely accused of being a potential suicide bomber, she spent weeks in a detention center being questioned under suspicion of terrorism. With sharp and engaging writing, she recounts the events surrounding her arrest and its impact on her life - the harassment, humiliation, and persecution she faced for crimes she didn’t commit.

Part of a series of compelling narrative nonfiction by young people for young people, Accused brings forward a crucial and unparalleled first-person perspective of American culture post-9/11 and the country’s discrimination against Muslim Americans.