CAIR-Chicago joined leaders of Chicago’s Muslim community recently in a meeting with the Archdiocese of Chicago and its archbishop, Francis Cardinal George. The event, “Muslim and Catholic Evening of Conversation”, marked a new chapter of interfaith dialogue and engagement between the two faith communities.

This past weekend over 20 volunteers joined CAIR-Chicago and the Council of the Advancement for Muslim Professionals (CAMP) at the Downtown Islamic Center to donate blood. The donations save patients suffering from health traumas such as major blood loss caused by car accidents. Each blood donation has the potential to save up to three lives.

This spring, CAIR-Chicago volunteers joined together to fundraise for the 2009 March for Babies walk, successfully raising $1,200 to help ensure healthy, full-term pregnancies for pregnant women.

Earlier this month, CAIR-Chicago was honored to host social justice advocate Ahmed Kathrada at the downtown office and introduce him to the organization’s initiatives to build a stronger civic society and a more vibrant democracy. As a leader of the South African liberation struggle against Apartheid rule, Kathrada is an important voice in the continued work to ensure human rights worldwide. He is one of the famous Rivonia trialists who was imprisoned for 26 years for his political activism and his efforts to establish democracy in South Africa.

On June 6, 2009, the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights hosted a forum entitled The State of Surveillance in the Surveillance State: Chicago and the Nation.

As an organization grounded upon the advocacy of civil justice, CAIR-Chicago – along with other chapters nationwide – has partnered with Interfaith Worker Justice to rally support for the The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The act (HR. 1409/S.560) is a pending bill that was introduced for the 111th Congress by Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) on March 10, 2009.

There are numerous people from different backgrounds in the United States who journey through life without friends and family members to care for them. And when these people die, there is no one to claim them. This is the reason that the First United Methodist Church launched interfaith memorial observances over twenty years ago—to provide an honorable goodbye for those who died alone.

Bill Moffitt was the kind of attorney every lawyer and aspiring lawyer hopes to become. Talented and dynamic, quick on his feet and sharp-tongued. But it was his character and integrity that made him an inspiration to civil rights activists across the nation. Bill Moffitt will be remembered in the civil rights community as a talented and harrowing fighter.

CAIR-Chicago hosted its first international delegation of the year with a group of youth mentors and activists from the United Kingdom. The group is visiting the U.S. through an exchange program sponsored by one of CAIR-Chicago’s partner organizations, the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC).

Listen to brief samples of CAIR-Chicago’s commericals now running on 820 AM’s Progressive Talk Radio! The public service announcements are another way we are working to ensure that the vibrant contributions of Muslims to society are recognized as a part of the mainstream.