Undocumented father takes sanctuary in church
By Bian Elkhatib J ose Juan Federico Moreno has not left University Church in Hyde Park since April 15. He is seeking sanctuary from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after they asked him to self-deport to Mexico. [vimeo 168295184 w=474] Moreno, who is from Bolingbrook, has a wife and five U.S. citizen children. He was […]
Chicago rats — Are they friend or foe?
By Bian Elkhatib and Nikita Mandhani Chicago is getting rattier. There has been an increase in rat complaints, and the city blames the irresponsible attitude of citizens towards garbage disposal and dog feces. Chicago’s Bureau of Rodent Control is asking all residents to keep their garbage lids closed and to pick up after their dogs. […]
An inside look into one student’s protest of Donald Trump
By Bian Elkhatib In some ways, Ana Ruiz is the face of a Trump protester. She’s young, a college student, new to protesting, hurt deeply that she and other Mexican immigrants are being demonized, and will be personally affected by how Trump proposes to lead the country. TRUMP RALLY COVERAGE Outside Trump rally, protesters shout […]
Hind Makki makes sure a women’s place is in the mosque, if she wants
By Bian Elkhatib Not long ago, women weren’t allowed to pray in some Chicago-area mosques. Hind Makki is working to change that. The 36-year-old blogger of Orland Park recounts a time in the mid ’90s when she went to a mosque on Devon Avenue with her father and her sister. She and her sister were […]
Medill explains – The stateless Rohingyas
By Bian Elkatib and Nikita Mandhani T he Rohingyas are a primarily Muslim ethnic minority group from Burma, a country in Southeast Asia that is also known as Myanmar. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, media coverage of the Rohingya refugee crisis has been scarce. [vimeo 156484536 w=474] The migration of Rohingyas […]
Harish Patel — immigrant, Muslim, state rep candidate
Text by Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram and Bian Elkhatib, video by Bian Elkhatib H e was 14 when he moved to the U.S. from India. He did not know any English. And he grew up on the northwest side of Chicago with his mother who cleaned homes for a living. That was Harish Patel 16 years […]
Former Wheaton College professor talks about ‘same God’ controversy
By Bian Elkhatib T he controversy started when then Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins wore a hijab during advent two months ago and said Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Her actions made national headlines after Wheaton — an Evangelical Christian college — chose to suspend Hawkins. In early February, Hawkins and Wheaton parted […]
Sierra Leone moves beyond Ebola to political drama
By Bian Elkhatib and Meggie Morris Sierra Leone isn’t in the news often. When the West African country makes an appearance in mainstream U.S. media, it’s often in relation to Ebola, a disease that is reported to have killed almost 4,000 people in the country. But the country currently ranks 79th in terms of press […]
