PRESS RELEASE: CAIR-Chicago to Observe Juneteenth as Office Holiday, Replacing Columbus Day

MEDIA ADVISORY

**FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION**

CAIR-Chicago to Observe Juneteenth as Office Holiday, Replacing Columbus Day  

(CHICAGO, IL, 6/17/2020) - The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, today announced their office closure in observance of Juneteenth. Starting this Friday, every June 19th, CAIR-Chicago will close its doors to celebrate the emancipation of the last enslaved Black Americans and to honor the lives lost to slavery.

The observation will formally replace the office’s observance of Columbus Day, which commemorates European explorer Christopher Columbus, glossing over the atrocities he and other Europeans committed after landing in North America. 

“As a civil rights organization, this double change in office holiday observance only feels right and timely. We have been long bothered about having to observe Columbus day while Juneteenth is ignored. We have been supporting calls for legislative change, but why wait? We have decided to do what feels right, right now, and hope the rest of the country catches up," Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said.

CAIR-Chicago is the Chicago Chapter of America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Our mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance. 

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CONTACT: CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com; CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Saadia Pervaiz, 312-212-1520, spervaiz@cair.com; CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Hannah Faris, 312-212-1520, hfaris@cair.com