This Documentary About a Black Muslim Teenage Girl Accused of Terrorism Airs Tonight

By Sameer Rao Feb 23, 2016

"Adama," a documentary scheduled to air on World Channel tonight, shows what happens when several issues—racism, sexism, xenophobia and Islamophobia among them—intersected to disrupt the life of Adama Bah.

The documentary profiles Bah, a hijab-wearing Guinean immigrant who endured the brunt of American Islamophobia and paranoia when armed federal agents raided her family’s Harlem apartment in 2005. Bah, then 16 years old, was accused of being a possible suicide bomber. The FBI leaked the suspicion to the press, and she was held in a Pennsylvania detention center. The subsequent fallout included her undocumented father’s arrest and the threat of her family’s deportation—all without Bah ever being charged for terrorism.

"Adama" illustrates Bah’s quest to maintain her faith in troubling circumstances, and the damaging effects that national security policy has on the communities and people caught in its crossfire. Watch the documentary’s sobering trailer above, and catch the broadcast on World Channel tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

Note: Piece modified to reflect that tonight’s airing isn’t a premiere, but a re-broadcast.