IAM Exhibition Launch St Peter’s Church
Categories: Past Event Articles
Tuesday November 20 2018
MEND Wolverhampton and Black Country Stand Up to Racism, jointly held an event, kindly hosted by St Peter’s Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton.
Speakers on the night included Bishop Clive Gregory of Wolverhampton, Martin Lynch from Stand Up to Racism, Councillors Sabina Ditta and Obaida Ahmed, Imam Rashid Raja, Doctor Zahid Parvez and the MEND Regional Manager. The evening was chaired by the Rev’d Preb David Wright.
Speakers throughout the evening gave lived examples of Islamophobia and spoke about solutions to ensure that Wolverhampton continued forward as the vibrant multi-cultural city that it is.
Two of our speakers and the Mend CEO released the following statements for press:
- Reverend Prebendary David Wright, Rector of St Peter’s, said “As Christians we believe everyone is created in the image of a loving, generous God who gives us many gifts. Anything which devalues any individual or group devalues all humanity, whilst anything which recognises and celebrates the gifts of any individual or group enhances all humanity. This excellent exhibition calls out ways in which some devalue our Muslim brothers and sisters and also highlights the valuable contribution Muslims make to our society in so many ways.”
- Councillor Obaida Ahmed said, “This is an exciting exhibition which will allow us once again to celebrate our diversity here in our wonderful city. This is a great platform to learn more about Islam and how the Muslims of today deal with Islamophobia. I’m proud to be a part of the launch and have the opportunity to share my experiences and ideas on how we can come one step closer to living together peacefully.”
- Dr Shazad Amin, CEO of Mend, said, “We thank the Church in Wolverhampton and community leaders for coming together to support the Islamophobia Awareness Month Exhibition in the City. As recent Home office data has shown us, 52% of all religiously motivated hate crime is now aimed at Muslims, in excess of 8,000 incidents last year alone. To reduce this increasing scourge of we need more cross-community collaborations like this wonderful event in Wolverhampton.”
MEND looks forward to having more collaborative events of this nature in Wolverhampton to come.