CAIR-Chicago Stands in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter

CAIR-Chicago proudly stands in solidarity with Black communities and the Black Lives Matter Movement. We encourage and support the communities and activists rising up against centuries of racial oppression. We are with you. It is not enough to say that we stand against racism - our country and our city was built on white supremacy and violent structural racism against Black people. The criminal justice system, prison system, education and nearly all facets of our lives are products of this colonization and systemic racism and are actively oppressing and harming Black and non-Black people of color. Justice and equality can only be attained by the ongoing acknowledgement, dismantlement and re-imagining of these systems.

We also recognize and are ashamed of the history and continued anti-Blackness within our own Muslim community, and are working with Black-led Muslim organizations to educate ourselves on allyship and combatting this internal racism.

We are committed to using our platform to lift up Black voices and mobilizing our community, through education and calls to action, to aid in the dismantlement of these oppressive systems. Solidarity and anti-racism is not a momentary pledge, but a lifetime of work; listening, learning, looking inward and constantly confronting our biases, holding our community accountable, all in service of liberation. We are here to build an equitable future, free of white-supremacy and systemic racism, not just for Muslims, but for all people.