This photo is part of the “Alabama Civil Rights Tour Photo Journal
Project.”
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/19/2018) –
The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy
organization, today launched the “Alabama Civil Rights Tour Photo
Journal Project.” CAIR’s month-long campaign will share one image per
day, along with personal reflections, from an educational
tour taken recently by the civil rights organization’s staff.
#AlabamaPilgrimage #Juneteenth2018
To view the first photo and reflection, go to:
In the first post,
CAIR-NJ’s Abdul Mubarak-Rowe wrote:
“I have to
be honest. I wasn’t sure whether I was emotionally
prepared to confront this brutal legacy that was so raw and
uncompromising in its brutal detail. These pilgrimages to these sacred
sights aren’t for the faint of heart. It is overwhelming in its horrific
detail but absolutely necessary in order to ensure that
one never forget what occurred here. Do not let your children and
grandchildren forget.”
CAIR’s photo journal project coincides with “Juneteenth,” or “Freedom Day,” commemorating
the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition
of slavery in the state of Texas; the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
During the CAIR civil rights tour, some 30 American Muslim
civil rights leaders and activists from
around the country traveled to Alabama to visit sites of historical
significance during the civil rights movement. Sites visited included
the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
and 16th Street Baptist Church. The group also
attended the inauguration of the National Memorial for Peace and
Justice in Montgomery, Ala.
Each day’s photo and accompanying reflection will be posted to CAIR’s social media platforms beginning
on Juneteenth (June 19) and continuing for a month.
SEE:
CAIR Facebook Page:
CAIR Twitter Page: www.twitter.com/@cairnational
CAIR Instagram Page:
The CAIR photos and reflections can be tracked on social media using the hashtag
#AlabamaPilgrimage
To find other Juneteenth related posts, follow the hashtag #Juneteenth2018.
“This educational project is an effort to center the
struggle for civil rights in
our nation as one led primarily by our African-American sisters and
brothers, and to uplift those voices across diverse communities,” said
CAIR National Chapter Manager Asma Rehman.
She noted that CAIR is set to release a documentary film
that follows the journey of the American Muslim
leaders as they walk the path of civil rights icons like Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., learning about connections between slavery, the
civil rights movement and Islamophobia, all culminating in the
emotional grand opening of the first memorial to the thousands
of African-Americans lynched in America.
“For those of us organizing our communities in the South, the specter of racial injustice continues
to haunt us,” said CAIR-Alabama Government Affairs Coordinator Ali Massoud.
“From police-involved shootings, to mass incarceration, to electoral
disenfranchisement, this journey showed us that our nation’s present
condition exists because we remain unable to honestly confront our
past.”
“It has been some time since we returned from our deeply-impactful pilgrimage to Alabama and witnessed
the histories of the people who came before us and paved the way for the work we now continue to do,” said
CAIR-Massachusetts Youth Empowerment Coordinator Sumaiya Zama.
“Since returning, we've been thinking deliberately about ways to ensure
that our experience transcends us as a small group and manifests into
an important
conversation among our fellow Americans.”
CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance
understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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