Dear Friends,
Please join us in welcoming Melissa Maldonado-Salcedo to the staff of ICNY. Melissa comes to us from NYU where she taught courses on Feminism, Science and Technology studies, Latin American/Latin@ studies, and Medical Ethics. She has also had experience in the Public and Nonprofit sectors working for Nina Vasquez and in public relations at the United Nations. At ICNY, Melissa will be serving as Program Associate for Religion and Civic Connections. She can be reached at 212-870-3513 or Melissa@interfaithcenter.org. Welcome Melissa!
Over the past ten days, ICNY and our partner NYDIS and other members of the 9/11 Museum’s Interfaith advisory panel have made the news by calling for the Museum to add greater context about Islam to its video “The Rise of Al-Qaida” which we believe should do more to distinguish between Al-Qaida and Islam, the religious tradition of 1.6 billion people. Here is the original New York Times article by Sharon Otterman, and here is the letter that members of the advisory board sent to the Museum. In addition, ICNY was featured in video and print news reports on Fox, the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post, and The Washington Post, et al.
This attention has proved to be a double-edged sword. Last week our website and social media channels received a lot of positive hits, but also a lot of negative messages from people especially upset by our position on the video. If you believe in ICNY’s work generally and ALSO agree with our views about the 9/11 Museum’s video please consider making your views known in two ways: First post comments on our Facebook page or Twitter, to show your support. If you are able and inclined, please take the time to articulate why what ICNY does matters. In addition, you might consider making your voice heard by writing to the 9/11 Museum directly:
National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center
200 Liberty Street, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10281
info@911memorial.org
We would be very grateful if feel so moved to take either of these steps.
In other news, below we bring you some recent highlights from ICNY, including Dr. Sarah Sayeed being recognized for her service to immigrant communities in New York by the NYPD, the Reentry Family and Faith Circles of Support volunteer training, the final “Debate in the Neighborhood” tournament on cyberbullying for Sikh, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim youth, and a street-naming ceremony honoring the son of of long-time ICNY friend Talat Hamdani. After many years Talat’s son Salman Hamdani a Police Cadet lost his life trying to save others on 9/11.
Best Wishes,
Rev. Chloe Breyer
Executive Director
The Interfaith Center of New York
Click here to access the entire E-bulletin for May.
