On Tuesday, December 6, 2011, CAIR-Chicago was honored to host the Golden Door Coalition in the CAIR-Chicago Gallery. Through the joint effort of its many member organizations, Golden Door seeks to promote safety, shelter and new life for those refugees seeking to call Illinois home. CAIR-Chicago applauds their effort, and welcomes the opportunity to provide a comfortable space for them to use.

On Thursday, December 8, civil rights and interfaith leaders held a press conference at the CAIR-Chicago office to condemn the controversial new provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1867) which passed in the Senate last week. SEE PHOTOS

Reem Rahman, Knowledge Manager at Ashoka, held an interactive session on social entrepreneurship at the CAIR-Chicago Gallery this past Tuesday, November 22, 2011. She led the audience through the evolution of Ashoka’s theory of change during its three-decade history of transforming the citizen sector by building the largest association of leading social entrepreneurs in the world.

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif spoke to the Islamic Center of Naperville’s Youth Group on Sunday, November 13th, about how to be an effective Muslim leader. The audience included about 100 middle school and high school students from the Naperville area.

On November 15, 2011, CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif joined a panel discussion on the Constitutionality of legislation, proposed in 25 states, banning Sharia law. The panel included Chicago-Kent Constitutional Law Professors Steven J. Heyman and Mark Rosen.

Last night, CAIR-Chicago hosted a community discussion in honor of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ Arab Heritage Month. Speakers discussed the Arab Spring revolutions and the Wall Street protests.

On November 1, 2011, Amina Sharif, CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator, spoke to a DePaul University class on Middle-Eastern and Muslim communities in America.

Staff Attorney, Rabya Khan, of CAIR-Chicago was back in Grand Island, Nebraska again last week continuing depositions on the JBS Swift Case. CAIR-Chicago is representing about 50 plaintiff intervenors in an U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) discrimination lawsuit filed against JBS Swift in 2010. Khan will be traveling again next week to Minneapolis for defending our clients in their depositions.

CAIR-Chicago's Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, was one of the key speakers at this year's prestigious Independent Sector Annual Conference held at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago from October 30th to November 1st.

CAIR-Chicago successfully resolved another citizenship delay case this month; Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham and Litigation Director Kevin Vodak had worked on the case for more than two years.

TLC will be airing the new reality show, “All-American Muslim,” on Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 10 pm ET/PT.

CAIR-Chicago representatives attended IQRA International Educational Foundation’s fundraising dinner at Drury Lane on Saturday, October 29 to support its educational initiatives.

Amina Sharif is speaking with a DePaul University classroom about Middle-Eastern communities in the US. The class, which is taught by Professor Mazen Istanbouli, covers political socialization as well as identity. Sharif presents to the class a brief history of American Muslims.

CAIR-Chicago hosted a brown bag lecture featuring Joshua Hoyt, the Executive Director of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Lawrence Benito, Deputy Director at ICIRR, Merhdad Azemun from the National Peoples Action, and Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago.

After more than a year of CAIR-Chicago raising the issue, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) finally agreed to recognize “Arab” as a race. Just last week, the EEOC headquarters in Washington, D.C. issued an apology letter to CAIR-Chicago Litigation Director Kevin Vodak for the improper classifications and assured him that steps have been taken to prevent further problems.

Gerald Hankerson, Outreach Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, presented at Wheaton College on October 5th regarding Muslim perspectives on American politics.

The CAIR-Chicago office welcomed a Bulgarian delegation on Wednesday, October 11th, 2011, whose mission was to gain knowledge on how the Bulgarian and American Muslim communities can benefit from international collaboration and cooperation.

CAIR-Chicago would like to thank all our interns and law clerks for their hard work and dedication. Our work would not be possible without the help of this talented team of young professionals. Read about all our interns and clerks HERE.

Staff Attorney, Rabya Khan, of the Chicago Office of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) begins depositions with the JBS Swift Case over employment discrimination lawsuit filed by EEOC in 2010.