By: Ashmar Mandou

Nearly 200 people including faith leaders representing social justice organizations and congregations converged onto Federal Plaza Monday afternoon to show solidarity with the activists in Charlottesville who protested white supremacy last weekend. “As religious leaders, we have a particular responsibility to make our voice heard, because white supremacists cloak their hatred in the context of faith,” said Rabbi Brant Rosen, a co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council. “We have a responsibility to sound the alarm from the sacred heart of our respective faith traditions: the voice of God who calls on us to stand with the vulnerable, dismantle systems of oppression and bear witness to the transformative power of love.”

Faith leaders urged participants to hold local elected officials accountable for “their failure to enact policies to protect communities of color in Chicago and across Illinois.” During the gathering, fliers were passed out to attendees advising them to call Mayor Rahm Emanuel to demand that publicly oppose exceptions included in the Welcoming City ordinance currently stalled in a City Council committee, which would stop collaboration between the Chicago Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These exclusions would discount individuals with prior felonies, current felony charges, a criminal warrant, or individuals identified as “gang members” under the complete discretion of Chicago police. This would leave many Chicagoans, primarily from black and brown communities, vulnerable to profiling, policing and deportation. “Even as we stand together against white supremacy in Charlottesville, we must ensure that police and ICE are not empowered to terrorize and criminalize black and brown communities right here at home,” said Cinthya Rodriguez of the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN).

Photo Credit: Christina Peacemaker Teams