Daniel Fitch Documents the Tension Between Faith and Commerce Among Black Muslim Business Owners in Georgia

Daniel Fitch is a filmmaker, producer, and storyteller based in Georgia. He studied African American Studies with a concentration in film and video at Georgia State University, graduating on the Dean’s List under the mentorship of Dr. Doris Derby, a civil rights veteran and SNCC member. He is the Founder and CEO of Natural Leaders Media, a full-service video production and marketing company rooted in what he calls “Storytelling for Good.”

Fitch has been in production for over 30 years, working across hundreds of sets and studios. He started over as a non-traditional student in his mid-thirties, was mentored into the craft, and built Natural Leaders Media from the ground up, beginning with a retainer with Clayton County Services Authority in 2016. His practice centers on making professional, strategic, story-driven content accessible to the people and organizations who need it most: small businesses, nonprofits, community organizations, and Black-owned businesses historically underserved by the production industry.

Fitch’s project turned that lens onto a community rarely examined in business media: Black Muslim small business owners in Georgia navigating the tension between American capitalism and Islamic law. The film asks a quiet but charged question: What does it mean to build a business when your faith has its own economics? How do credit, interest, and capitalist structures sit alongside the principles of Sharia?

For Fitch, the project became deeply personal. It deepened his faith, sharpened his lens, and challenged mainstream narratives around Islam, replacing fear with understanding.

Silver Lining commissioned this work from Daniel Fitch as part of the small.artists Mini Doc series, supported by Wells Fargo.

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