Muslim turkey drive reaches 5,000 South Side families
Muna Khan and Fariba Pajooh On a chilly Wednesday morning at least a dozen people wait outside of Emmett Till Math and Science Academy in the Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. They are volunteers with the Muslim Turkey Drive who have come to distribute turkeys to low-income families in Woodlawn and surrounding communities. [vimeo […]
Fear and coping in Muslim America
By Muna Khan and Shahzeb Ahmed The third floor of the Downtown Islamic Center in Chicago fills quickly with men of all races and ethnicities—Arabs sit next to South Asians who sit next to African Americans. They have come for the obligatory Friday congregational prayer. Most sit cross-legged with their heads bowed in silence, listening […]
Election day dawns at last for historic, decisive races
By Muna Khan 9 a.m. CT Monday, Nov. 9, 2016 Election day has finally arrived. Millions headed to the polls across Illinois and rest of the United States this morning to choose between Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton and the Republican candidate Donald Trump as their next president. Voters are also choosing in a variety of […]
Muslims at Chicago rally stump for Clinton, vow to get out the vote
By Muna Khan At least 100 people gathered at a banquet hall on a cloudy Saturday afternoon on Oct. 15 in Chicago’s Rogers Park to listen to a panel of speakers urge the audience to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Chicago Muslim group uses billboard to slam ISIS
By Muna Khan A group of Muslims in Chicago has banded together to denounce the militant group ISIS with disparaging messages on billboards posted in four cities — Phoenix, St. Louis and Miami, as well as in Chicago. The billboards, the first of which went up in Chicago on Aug. 5, read “Hey ISIS, You […]
Writer, actor and producer Fawzia Mirza uses comedy to jump start conversations and challenge stereotypes
By Muna Khan Fawzia Mirza stands on a practically bare stage. Her only companions are three chairs situated on a colorful carpet, suggesting a movie theater where Mirza is pretending to be attending a screening of a film starring famed Indian actor Sharmila Tagore. Mirza tells the audience at the Steppenwolf Theatre about how much […]
Refugees from Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya community find sanctuary and solace at a cultural center in Chicago
By Muna Khan A dozen primary school-aged children sit around desks taking instruction from their tutors, local college students who volunteer as English language teachers at the Rohingya Culture Center in Chicago. The center’s founder, Nasir Bin Zakaria, 40, watches from a distance, nodding in delight whenever a child gets an answer right. Zakaria, who […]
