Protestantism

» Migisi - Largest Arab community in US

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SCHOOL DISTRICT ADDS RAMADAN TO LIST OF APPROVED HOLIDAYS - 10/13/07 The Beacon News *Associated Press
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(quote)
"OAKLAWN [IL]- A string of red plastic lanterns adorns preschool classroom 138 at Harnew School, hung by a Muslim student to share an Arab tradition during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
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"They signify light and a time of being neighborly, respectful and reaching out to help," teacher Kathy Mostesano explained to students during circle time on the carpet.
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"The peaceful lesson was a contrast to an uproar that divided parents for weeks this fall after a Muslim parent in the 2,100 student district just outside Chicago asked to hang lights featuring crescent moons and stars -- and the school board responded by considering a ban on celebrating religious holidays.
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"Hundreds of people showed up at school board meetings. Some complained about the loss of Santa and claimed Muslims were being demanding. A non-Muslim parent yelled ethnic slurs. Police were called. And the woman whose request sparked the controversy said she was threatened with violence.
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"But earlier this month, Ridgeland School District 122 - where 30 % of students are Muslim - made an uncommon compromise: It would add Ramadan to a list of approved holidays, along with Christmas and Halloween.
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"For years, schools nationwide have quietly accommodated Muslim students on a case-by-case basis, providing places to pray, alternatives to sitting in the lunchroom while fasting, and excused absences for holidays.
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But as Muslim populations surge, they find that's not enough.
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"'Oak Lawn has changing demographics,' said Superintendent Tom Smyth. 'Basically, as those numbers increase or have been increasing, we've been trying to do some accommodation.'" (end)
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The Model School, Islamic Style
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/...
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(quote) "The place that's preparing these young [Arab] Americans for life in their own country, "from crayons to college," as its slogan promises, is the Universal School, an Islamic institution teaching 638 students in pre-K through 12th grades in Bridgeview, Ill. The suburb, 16 miles southwest of Chicago's downtown Loop, lies in the heart of one of the U.S.'s largest Arab communities, where an estimated 25,000 Islamic residents pursue an uneasy assimilation into secular, suburban life. The school's goal is to give its students such a solid grounding in their religion and education that they will be able to go forth and succeed in mainstream American life without compromising their values. "Proud to be Muslim, proud to be American," says Safaa Zarzour, vice chairman of the school's board and its former principal." (end)

-- posted by Migisi

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» Migisi - Ahhh... Chicago

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Chicagoland is one of THE most culturally divers cities in the country. The 'city of big shoulders' means more than stockyards and meat. It's about stature. When I was growing up in Chicago, my neighbors and friends were of all ethnic backgrounds. Latinos, Asians, Germans, Italians, Irish, Africans, Arabs, Jews, Indians, Africans, etc. Many were first or second generation immigrants. We weren't segregated into exclusive ethnic communities, but all mixed together. We kids didn't care about birth countries, language barriers, skin color, religions. We played together in the street, gangways, and playgrounds, went to the same public school, some to the same church, and hung out together on one porch or another. If kids were making trouble, anyone's mom could yell at them in whatever language (and we'd listen - or else!). It was expected and accepted. If a kid didn't know much English, we taught him/her English. My dad owned the 6-flat we lived in, and he rented to any family, regardless of their origin. We didn't know what discrimination was. Today, when I hear ethnic slurs, I get an uncomfortable twinge in my stomach. I still remember my childhood friends, and their earnest dreams and struggles to 'become Americans'. Their families left their native lands - everything they knew and loved - and CHOSE America. They CHOSE Chicago. For so many to do this, they must've believed there was something very special about my country and my working class city! Indeed, there is.
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"Chicago" - by Carl Sandburg
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Hog Butcher of the World
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight
Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I
have seen your painted women under the gas lamps
luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it
is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to
kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the
faces of women and children I have seen the marks of
wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who
sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer
and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cun-
ning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on
job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the
little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning
as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with
white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young
man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has
never lost a battle,
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse,
and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of
Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be the Hog
Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with
Railroads and Freight Handler of the Nation.

-- posted by Migisi

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» pink101 - Ahhh... Chicago

In response to Ahhh... Chicago posted by Migisi:

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So, you grew up in Chicago?
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Lucky you.
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I've always been amazed with "my home town". My first visit there was for my 16th birthday. I had a great time in Chicago and have gone back again and again and again and again.
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We're planning a trip again soon.
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No place in the world is like Chicago.
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-- posted by pink101

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» Migisi - Ahhh... Chicago

In response to Ahhh... Chicago posted by pink101:
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Yep, Chi-town raised - Harlem and Diversy. I expecially liked Sandburg's description: stormy, husky, brawling, cunning, and fierce as a dog, proud,... bragging and laughing. He must've personally known a few Chicago alderman. Right - there's no place like it.

-- posted by Migisi

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» pink101 - Ahhh... Chicago

In response to Ahhh... Chicago posted by Migisi:

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One of my distant relatives was on the Board of Trade about the time you were growing up. His last name was Rumsey.
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I remember the push carts on the street in the 1940s out of which the famous Chicago Hot Dogs were sold. I also remember the fruit stands under the elevated trains down on Clark street. What a bustling and hustling town that was. It would be great to go back there to that time in Chicago.
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-- posted by pink101

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