Original News, Features & Opinion on Chicago, Illinois and America
Max and Benny’s Offers Passover Seder food service Passover is a very special time of year, and we look forward to the opportunity of spending it with you! All week we will be offering a variety of wonderful Passover specials. As usual we will host dinner the first two nights for your family’s Seder, and…
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Pawar gets endorsement of new Muslims group for Chicago Treasurer New Muslim Political Organization makes its first endorsements in Chicago City-Wide Elections: Ameya Pawar for City Treasurer and Anna Valencia for City Clerk. The Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition also released its list of Muslims running for office in Chicago and the Chicagoland suburbs Today, on the first…
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Moraine Valley students perform in original theatrical production Moraine Valley Community College will present “American Griot,” an original play exploring Muslim influence on the American music genre known as the blues. The Academic Theater production will run Feb. 21 to March 3, in the John and Angeline Oremus Theater, inside the Fine and Performing Arts…
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April named Arab Heritage Month by new Illinois Law Illinois Legislature passes law to designate April as Arab American Heritage Month. The bill was introduced by Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, and co-sponsored by State Senator Steve Landek and Representative Mike Zalewski. The bill restores respect for Illinois’ Arab American community which was disrespected…
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Have we lost our family focus this holiday season? Christmas isn’t about family any more. It’s about commerce, money and spending. And that’s too bad. It’s a holiday season that should be enjoyed by families with a focus on families, not on spending money By Ray Hanania Next week will be Christmas and I bet…
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Protests against “racism” must be effective and civil Protestors have been disrupting meetings of the Palos Township board for nearly 18 months as a part of a political strategy devised by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to undermine her anti-tax critics led by County Commissioner Sean Morrison. They are targeting Sharon Brannigan out of…
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Miriam Zayed passing mourned by Chicagolands Arab, Muslim community Local activist fought for the rights of Arabs and Muslims in the Chicagoland area and also for the rights of all in mainstream American politics. Miriam Zayed was among one of the first two Arab Americans in Chicagoland to run for public elective office in the…
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Cicero hosts Day of Prayer to fight street gangs This is the 7th year of what has become an annual summer tradition for this “Day of Prayer in Cicero” which has helped bring the community together and succeed in overcoming the violence of street gangs. Local church leaders and community members joined with the Town…
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A “teaching moment” on Roseanne Barr, the media and political hypocrisy Roseanne Barr said something stupidly racist about Valerie Jarrett and Jarrett responded saying we should take it as a “teaching moment.” But what kind of “teaching moment” can we have in an America that is deeply divided, caught in the middle between extremist politics…
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One week into Lent, sweet reminder Paczki Day was very popular in Chicago and the suburbs By Steve Metsch Visiting a bakery at 6 a.m. is not something Carlos Medina ordinarily does. But Feb. 13 was no ordinary day. “It’s Fat Tuesday. It’s to celebrate the start of Lent,” Medina said as he stood in…
Remembering Billy Graham and Christian Arabs The Rev. William “Billy” Franklin Graham Jr. died this week at the age of 99. During his life, Graham once held the Palestinian Christians of Bethlehem in the highest esteem. And when my mother passed through one of his evangelical conventions one day, Graham held her hand high up…
Who are the Arabs of the Southwest Suburbs? The recent personal attacks against a trustee in Palos Township has sparked a discussion about who are the Arabs of Chicagoland. I have spent most of my life studying and writing about the American Arab community, authoring dissertations and studies on them at Northern Illinois and the…
Local Catholic Parishes to Host Advent Masses By Steve Neuhaus @stephenneuhaus / twitter Simbang Gabi is a Filipino Catholic tradition of celebrating a novena (series of nine) of Advent evening Masses. It is meant to help Filipino-American and other Catholics in the area to intensify their spiritual preparation for the grace-filled celebration of Christmas. Masses…
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