At noon on Monday, several organizations including the Foundation for Self-Reliance, American Muslim Alliance and SEMAH, a group that focuses on domestic violence prevention, are hosting a moment of silence near Lake Elizabeth in Central Park at 40000 Paseo Padre Parkway.
After the moment of silence, there will be a white dove release followed by a discussion about racism, privilege, prejudice and achieving equality for all people, organizers said.
"This is more than just 'wear a hijab or turban' day," said Samina F. Sundas, founder of the Newark-based American Muslim Voice and Global Peace Partners. "It's about educating each other about our differences and recognizing that we should focus on what binds us together."
The idea for the event originated days after Alia Ansari, a 38-year-old Afghan woman from Fremont, was gunned down Oct.19 as she walked with her 3-year-old daughter to pick up some of her other children from an elementary school.
Police have yet to declare a motive in the Ansari case, but the perception among some in the community is that the shooting had to be a hate crime because Ansari was wearing a hijab, the traditional Muslim head scarf.
"We don't know whether it is a hate crime. We don't know whether she was killed because of her hijab. We don't know whether it was an honor killing or what," said Reshma Yunus, founder of SEMAH and one of the speakers at the event. "Regardless of the reason, we can still try to exercise our minds and become more comfortable with the diversity of our community."
Yunus added that participants are encouraged to wear any kind of head covering, or none at all and just be there "to show your solidarity with other people and respect people's right to wear whatever clothing they want."
For more information, visit http://www.e-fsr.org.
Jonathan Jones can be reached at (510) 353-7005
