Marking ten years since Guantanamo Bay’s opening, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released a report called, “Guantanamo by the Numbers”, describing the cost of running the camp and the treatment of detainees.

The film “follows a predominately Arab-American high school football team from a working-class Detroit suburb as they practice for their big cross-town rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan, revealing a community holding onto its Islamic faith while they struggle for acceptance in post 9/11 America.“  Watch a  trailer for the movie here: http://fordsonthemovie.com/trailer.php

Two Muslim American movies discuss one message: the negative impact of 9/11 on Muslims in America. They use two different approaches: Fordson focuses on a Muslim community’s unity, while Mooz-lum focuses on one individual’s struggle.

Gerald Hankerson, CAIR-Chicago’s Outreach Coordinator, spoke about civil rights and social justice at the 9/11 Primer, a civic engagement event created by HumanThread, held at the Meridian Stage in Pilsen.

Terms like “radical Islam” reflect negatively on a peaceful religion. The terrorists who recognize themselves as Muslims are not true followers of the religion as Islam condemns the killing of innocents. Therefore, the term “Islam” should be avoided in the discourse of terrorism and 9/11.

“For Amina Sharif, communication director of the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the mainstream interest in Islam and Muslims began after September 11, but the negative feelings were always there.

“For Sharif much of the blame lies with the media and popular culture in the US, which she says is often “orientalist and slanted” in its depiction of Muslims and Islam.”

See our recent media coverage here.

Ahmed Rehab appeared on The John Williams Show on CBS Minnesota to discuss Muslim relations both before and after the events out of 9/11.

For Muslim Americans… Sunday wasn’t just the anniversary of a terrorist attack on their country. It was also the anniversary of the day public opinion of the community changed. The Council of American-Islamic Relations in Chicago wants to erase the link between the Muslim faith and the terrorist attacks. CAIR-Chicago’s Amina Sharif spoke with WDCB News reporter Brian O’Keefe.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations hopes Americans can move forward 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. Representatives including Muslims, Christians, and Jews say its time to quit feeding into fear and embrace the principles America was founded on.