UU Justice NC lives into our faith by committing ourselves to the work of advancing community safety for our Muslim siblings, and all people in North Carolina. In September UUs across the state showed up in solidarity with our Muslim neighbors.
On Tuesday, September 8th people of faith gathered at the Mooresville Townhall Meeting to speak in support of the Islamic Center of Lake Norman and against anti-Muslim rhetoric. The project has already been approved and the building of the mosque will move forward. The next day, UUs were a part of the group of over 60 people who gathered at St. Stephen AME church in Wilmington for a Faith Table NC panel discussion featuring local and state Muslim leaders to talk about the rise in threats to Islamic communities across NC. The panel included:
- Zainab Baloch – Blueprint NC (Panel Moderator)
- Imam Safwan Salman – Imam & Director of the Islamic Center of Wilmington
- Al Rieder – Council on American-Islamic Relations
- Manzoor Cheema – Muslims for Social Justice
- Shuhud Mustafa – Muslim Women For
In September, UU Justice NC also dedicated two Friday Action Hour to the work of deepening our relationships with the Muslim community in NC. On 9/11 we wrote emails and letters of support and appreciation to mosques across the state. And on September 18th, we were joined by Al Rieder from the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Al offered an in depth briefing on the eight credible threats to eight mosques in NC over the past few months.