CONNECTICUT – United by grief and anger, dozens of Yale students rose up Thursday, April 5, against discrimination and racism, hosting a “Hoodies and Hijabs” day in protest of the murder of Trayvon Martin and Shaima Alawadi.
“Being discriminated against for wearing certain types of clothing, or coming from certain religious or racial backgrounds is unacceptable,” the announcement by the Yale Muslim Students Association, cited by Yale Daily News, read.
The event was held to protest the killing of Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, who was found unconscious on March 21 in the living room of their home in El Cajon in San Diego County.
Three days later, she was declared dead after taking her off life support.
Police said that hate crime was an option after an apparently xenophobic note was found beside the body of the Iraqi mother.
Considering other options, hate crime remained the highest possibility considered by community activists who pointed to a history of violence and intimidation toward the local Muslim community.
Yale students also rallied on behalf of Trayvon Martin, an African-American teenager who was shot on Feb. 26
Trayvon, an unarmed black Miami teenager who donned a hoodie, was shot to death more than a month ago by George Zimmerman, a Neighborhood Watch volunteer in Sanford.
