Local

Palos Township Residents to Rally on Monday, Sept. 11 for Immediate Resignation of Trustee Sharon Brannigan


Take On Hate
Source: Facebook

PALOS—(ENEWSPF)—September 11, 2017. Palos Township residents and others will rally against racism and hate speech on Monday, September 11th, in response to current Trustee Sharon Brannigan’s social media attacks against the growing population of Arabs and Muslims in the southwest suburbs, and more recently, Middle Eastern students. The rally will begin at 6 p.m. at 10802 South Roberts Road in Palos Hills.

At the last township general meeting on August 14th, The Campaign to TAKE ON HATE, along with local organizations, mobilized hundreds of community members, residents, and supporters to protest Brannigan and call for her immediate resignation.

Claiming it was not notified that such a large crowd was going to be in attendance, and unable to accommodate all the residents there, the Board of Trustees canceled the meeting, a move fully anticipated by the organizers of the rally.

“We had over 200 people at the July meeting,” said Bassem Kawar, Chicago Advocacy Specialist for TAKE ON HATE, a national formation with headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, “so why wouldn’t they have been prepared for August and September.  Clearly, the township does not want us to fill the meeting space and refuses to take the issue seriously, so we are in contact with the Illinois Attorney General’s office to explore possible legal actions.”

Despite receiving notifications from TAKE ON HATE and other organizations and residents that the September meeting will also have a large turnout, the township still did not secure an adequately-sized space. Instead, last Friday, only three days before the September 11th meeting, it announced that the meeting will be hosted OUTSIDE, in the township’s parking lot.

An ad hoc community coalition and allies are mobilizing for the rally at 6 PM, and also encouraging all residents to stay for the 7 PM meeting, where the coalition members’ testimonies and concerns will be voiced again.

Follow the action and general meeting on Twitter, using #ResignBrannigan, #TakeOnHate, and #TakeOnHateChi.

Organized by: The Campaign to TAKE ON HATE, AMVOTE PAC, Arab American Action Network, Arab American Democratic Club, Arab American Family Services, Kiswani Law, P.C., Law Offices of Reem Odeh, and other community members and activists.

See event on Facebook

Source: Campaign to Take on Hate


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