We’ve been busy and can’t wait to tell you all about what we’ve been up to!
Neighbors United Against Hate Rally
Our rally against hate with Action Ridge was a huge success! On Sunday May 15 we welcomed a crowd of supporters ready to take back the streets against hateful acts in our coalition-wide community. Speakers included Nan Parsons, Elizabeth Lynch, Kim Schaefer, Jill Manrique, Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, and State Senator Ram Villivalam.
We took a pledge against hate and marched throughout the neighborhood chanting as we went along. You can watch the whole video on Niles Coalition’s Youtube channel: Neighbors United Against Hate Rally May 2022 and read press coverage at Journal & Topics. Big thanks to everybody who came out and committed to combating hate in all its forms.
Support for Arab & Palestinian People
One of the organizers for the Neighbors Against Hate Rally was Niles West District 219 school board trustee Jill Manrique. She even addressed the crowd at the rally. In her speech she encouraged people to show up and “get uncomfortable in big ways and in small ways”. Jill walks the talk because a week later she attended the Niles West graduation wearing a kuffiyeh in support of the oppressed people of Palestine.
As a result she was viciously defamed by hateful racists. The US Palestinian Community Network invited us to join them in solidarity with Jill Manrique in support of the Arab and Palestinian community at the next D219 board meeting. We were honored to show up and put our pledge into action. But we weren’t the only ones. What we witnessed that evening was an amazing organic show of solidarity and support. The public comment period was packed full of comments in support of Jill’s brave action and a strong message was sent that hate has no home in Niles West or anywhere in our community!
You can see the press conference here:
USPCN June 9 presser in defense of Jill Manrique & Palestinian students in IL school district 219
and the public comments here:
NTHS District 219 Board of Education Meeting
Community Relations Commission
The Village of Niles Community Relations Commission has been expanded and is accepting applications. The deadline has been extended to June 15 so people have a few more days to apply! ACT FAST! Here is a link to the application.
#SaveNilesLibrary
In April’s newsletter we told you about the school lunch program for children that was unable to continue this year due to lack of staff at the Niles-Maine District Library. After months of us raising awareness of this travesty, the library put the squeeze on staff to make it happen. Of course they didn’t end their contrived and brutal “hiring freeze” to help, they just added stress to the staff while cutting other programs. Our library deserves to be full funded and Carolyn Drblik, Suzanne Schoenfeldt, and Joe Makula need to END THE HIRING FREEZE NOW!
Niles-Maine District Library Board Meeting – June 15 2022
It’s budget time again at the library and Trustee Makula is on his usual cruel tear to slash the budget until it bleeds. On the chopping block is the Teen Underground that is specifically tailored to the needs of teens by our expert librarians. Joe Makula is *not* a librarian but can’t help himself imposing his whims on the library we built over the course of generations in our community. Please come out to the board meeting Wednesday and speak out against these drastic cuts.
Niles-Maine District Library Regular Board Meeting
June 15, 2022 6:30 PM
Niles-Maine District Library – Commons Meeting Room
6960 Oakton St. Niles, IL 60714
Spreading Awareness
Our #SaveNilesLibrary campaign organizers and allies continue to show up and leaflet at the library to make sure all patrons know about this continuing attack on our library. We’re dedicated to our goal of saving the library so future generations can have this crucial resource available.
Thanks for reading!
