Rally on March 20

On Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 2:00pm, organizations, community groups, and congregations from across Chicagoland will rally in Evanston’s Fountain Square to stand against anti-Muslim bigotry. After the rally, groups will canvass businesses and homes to display posters supporting refugees and demand a stop to racial/religious profiling. The event comes as a follow up to a similar rally held in December that saw hundreds in attendance including Mayor Liz Tisdahl of Evanston and Northwestern University Professor Morton Shapiro. In the wake of huge protests last Friday during Presidential Candidate Donald Trump’s rally at UIC, organizers expect the event to be even larger.
 
Together, co-sponsoring organizations affirm:
 
Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim are enduring vitriolic, frightening levels of hate and violence throughout the country- being spit on, verbally harassed and abused, physically assaulted, and even shot. This hate and violence does not exist in a vacuum. It takes place in the context of ongoing and systemic Islamophobia and racism that are pervasive and deep within our society.

On March 20, 2016, the undersigned organizations and the Chicagoland community will publicly say: We stand against the many ways in which anti-Muslim and xenophobic hatred manifests itself, including hate speech and hate crimes; institutionalized racism and state-sanctioned violence; racial and religious profiling in all its forms; and prejudice that targets refugees and immigrants of all backgrounds.

We will be going door-to-door and store-to-store, inviting merchants, houses of worship, and residents to post signs in their yards or windows affirming: “Stop Profiling Muslims” and “Refugees Welcome”.