
COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS - CHICAGO | DEFENDING CIVIL RIGHTS. FIGHTING BIGOTRY. PROMOTING TOLERANCE

Reem Rahman, Project and Knowledge Manager of Ashoka Changemakers (Washington, DC), will share Ashoka’s approach toward acting as a catalyst for massive social impact across the globe, including an exclusive demo of her team’s newest open-source, beta platform.
Amina Sharif, communications director for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) office in Chicago, said she is hopeful for the new series, because it will offer “a more mainstream image of American Muslims. They are often stereotyped and misunderstood because of negative portrayals in media and pop culture. [This program] is normalizing Muslims,” said Sharif. “That’s the way [of] American culture – we needed ‘The Cosby Show’ to help normalize African American families. In this society public opinion is shaped mainly by media and pop culture,” she said.
Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago executive director commended the TSA for Egan’s firing. “We made it clear that Egan’s discourse was as much an embarrassment to the agency and the values it stands for, as it was an affront against Muslims and other minorities,” Rehab said in a statement.
Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago executive director commended the TSA for Egan’s firing. “We made it clear that Egan’s discourse was as much an embarrassment to the agency and the values it stands for, as it was an affront against Muslims and other minorities,” Rehab said in a statement.
“The TSA works hard everyday to keep Americans safe,” Amina Sharif, TSA communications coordinator said in the release. “When such egregious behavior is flagged on the part of one of their agents, it breeds confidence in us as passengers that it is dealt with as swiftly and as seriously as it was in the case of Roy Egan.”
Last night, CAIR-Chicago hosted a community discussion in honor of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ Arab Heritage Month. Speakers discussed the Arab Spring revolutions and the Wall Street protests.
On November 1, 2011, Amina Sharif, CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator, spoke to a DePaul University class on Middle-Eastern and Muslim communities in America.
On Sunday, November 6th, Muslims all over the world and in America will commemorate the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, or the Hajj, with communal prayers and celebrations. It is one of the most important Islamic holidays of the year. Each year, some two million Muslims, including thousands of American Muslims, go for the Hajj pilgrimage.
As the Tea Party convention comes to Daytona Beach, many polititians declined their invitation not wanting to associate themselves with speakers like Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim activist. “In other states, elected officials have pulled out and do not want to be on the same stage as her,” said CAIR media-relations director Ahmed Rehab.
Gina Cuellar, a 24-year-old psychology student at Cal State San Bernardino is happy that she converted to Islam.
“The qualitative anecdotes are women particularly are converting at a much faster rate, particularly Latinas,” said Ahmed Rehab, media relations director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington.