Chicago Monitor

Muslim women: usually always spoken for without being included in the discussion. How many news segments have we seen about whether or not the hijab is appropriate, without the consultation of a single actual hijabi? How many panels on women's health have we seen in countries around the world (yes, even western nations) without the input of a single Muslim woman? Too many....

By Aislinn Pulley and Frank Chapman Early on in the Police Accountability Task Force Report a democratic principle is set forth, namely, that “The police need to know who they work for — the community. The authority that they have belongs to the people.” Yet nowhere does this report address the fundamental democratic right of the people to control the...

By Frank Chapman and Aislinn Pulley Recently ten members of the Black Caucus of the Chicago City Council challenged Mayor Emanuel on his nomination/selection process for appointing a Superintendent of Police. Here is our response to this mockery of democracy. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has done what the law says he’s supposed to do – appoint the Superintendent of Police. In rejecting...

By Gerrit Hatcher During a winter marked by painful revelations of violence at the hands of the Chicago Police Department (CPD), Chicago’s Community Renewal Society has finally found the momentum to push its FAIR COPS Ordinance (FAIR COPS). As a representative of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, an organization dedicated to stopping police crimes and impunity, I have...

By Omar Alzein Bombs fall from the sky on the Syrian town of Daraa. A mother loses a son, a little girl loses her brother, and a child loses an untold future. The hopeful faces of those who marched in the massive demonstrations are now plagued with anguish, because for them home no longer exists. Their cities have been gutted,...

By Sarah Chambers As the image of Barbara Byrd-Bennett pleading guilty and apologizing to the surrounding cameras is broadcast across our city, the realities of our Chicago schools flash through my mind. I see classrooms packed to the brim, wall to wall, 40-50 kids in a classroom with the fire code waived, since these classes far exceed state law. I see roaches...

By Mohammad Mosallanejad and Esmaeel Mosallanejad It took almost 12 years for the highly controversial nuclear issue of Iran to conclude in an international historic agreement signed in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran, the European Union and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany, called the P5+1. Given the critical nature of the agreement,...

By Manar Daghash “Every minority in America is treated like a problem long before they are treated like a person,” began a member of the Arab American Action Network’s (AAAN’s) Youth Organizing Program at a community event last week.  During the summer of 2012, a small group of youth at the AAAN was determined to begin a community-based campaign to...

By Lynn Pollack As reported last week, a Congressional Briefing on the issue of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention was held on June 2. Some 130 people, including staffers from at least 23 Congresspeople and 10 Senators, were briefed by human rights experts and heard testimonies from Palestinian children who have been through the ordeal of a military arrest,...

By Jennifer Watkins The past year has undoubtedly ushered in a new era for identity relations in America; with the police killings of black men in Ferguson and New York, the partisan fueled arguments over immigrant amnesty and the ‘religious freedom protection’ laws targeted at LGBTQ communities introduced in several states, racial and religious tension saturated our media climate in...