Group launches initiative to combat racism, make mosques more inclusive
A Chicago-area Islamic group has launched an initiative to help mosques and other Islamic institutions be more inclusive of minorities and women.
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago's new Black Lives Matter Task Force aims to address racism, bigotry and sexist practices within Muslim communities throughout the Chicago area and suburbs.
The umbrella group serves more than 60 member organizations, including mosques and Islamic schools, representing more than 400,000 Muslim Americans of various ethnicities, races and cultures.
Cultural biases and misogynistic practices are antithetical to Islamic values and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, said Imam Charles Muhammad, CIOGC board and task force member.
Muhammad said the task force will work with these institutions to promote equity and inclusion, such as appointing more women to governing boards and being more welcoming of Blacks, Latinos and all races.
Each organization would appoint a hospitality chair/compliance officer to oversee issues arising with implicit bias and institutional racism.
The group also will work on criminal justice reform and advocacy, housing, workforce, food security and health care issues affecting minorities.
"We're going to be having training sessions to help people realize how to identify some of the issues of implicit bias within our ranks," Muhammad said. "This did not just start with the Black Lives Matter movement. We've been grappling with this issue within the Muslim community for some time."
Girl power
LGBTQ youth are almost three times more likely to attempt suicide, often due to lack of acceptance from their families, said Molly Pinta, of Buffalo Grove, who came out as a bisexual at age 11.
It's why Pinta started the nonprofit The Pinta Pride Project, which organized Buffalo Grove's first LGBTQIA+ Pride Parade in 2019 drawing 6,000 attendees.
"Our family friendly Pride parade was an extreme expression of love to all, and the LGBTQ community, but it was especially important for teens who are not accepted in their own homes because of their identities," Pinta, now 14, said during the United Nations' Girls' Rights Townhall Friday for the International Day of the Girl.
Pinta also is a youth ambassador for The Human Rights Campaign, which works globally on issues affecting the LGBTQ community.
"In the United States alone, 27 transgender and gender nonconforming people were murdered in 2019. Two of these 27 people were trans girls who died at the age of 17," said Pinta, who added that transgender women and girls of color are disproportionately affected by violence.
Stifling diverse books
The American Library Association is reporting an uptick in efforts to remove books about or by people of color and works featuring LGBTQ themes and characters, from classrooms and libraries nationwide.
"We counted 377 challenges to library and classroom materials last year (2019) and about 566 books were included in those challenges," said Deborah Caldwell Stone, director of association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
"The vast majority of those challenges were LGBTQ-themed books. It is particularly disturbing at a time when marginalized communities and minorities are facing challenges. We deny children the opportunity to see themselves in these books and deny young people the opportunity to develop empathy toward others."
100 controversial books
The American Library Association recently released its list of the 100 most frequently challenged books from the past decade.
The Top 10 are: "George" by Alex Gino, "Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out" by Susan Kuklin, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo" by Jill Twiss, "Sex is a Funny Word" by Cory Silverberg, "Prince & Knight" by Daniel Haack, "I Am Jazz" by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, "Drama" written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier, the "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling and "And Tango Makes Three" by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
For the complete list, visit ala.org.
Suburban cases
The suburbs aren't immune to debates over controversial books and materials.
In 2017, then-Elgin Area School District U-46 school board member Jeanette Ward opposed adopting new digital literacy curriculum and resources that she believed glorified communism, misrepresented Israel's history, and presented "the pseudoscience of climate change as established scientific fact."
In 2013, the Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41 school board reversed an earlier decision to remove "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" from eighth-grade literacy classrooms over concerns about sexually explicit content and language. And in 2006, a Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board member sought to pull nine books from a required reading list because of sexually graphic, vulgar and violent content.
Promoting nonviolence
Nationwide Black Lives Matter protests after the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer have been marred by rioting, looting and violence unconnected with the movement itself.
"We believe in nonviolent resistance and nonviolent change," said Shalini Gupta, president of United for Peace Coalition of Naperville, a nonprofit helping DuPage County NAACP educate people about nonviolent protests.
"Instead of protesting out in the streets, we really need to go with specific demands to elected representatives who have the power to do something about (it)."
The coalition has been pushing for police reform with DuPage County Board members and Aurora city leaders, and plans to lobby other communities.
The group also recently held a Gandhi Nonviolence Rally in Naperville, where Christian, Muslim and Hindu faith leaders spoke about the role of nonviolence in their respective religious traditions.
"We felt at this time, when we are seeing violent clashes in our cities, somehow the whole principle of nonviolence needs to be reinforced, reiterated," said Gupta, of Naperville.
• Share stories, news and happenings from the suburban mosaic at mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com.