There’s a day dedicated to right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk and it’s coming up this week. Following the fatal shooting of Kirk last month, the U.S. House and Senate unanimously passed a resolution marking Oct. 14 as a “National Day of Remembrance” for the 31-year-old conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump.
Oct. 14 is not only Kirk’s birthday, but it’s also George Floyd’s birthday. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. His death sparked a global resistance movement as a witness video captured officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
Oct. 14 is also the day Wadee Alfayoumi, a six-year-old Palestinian child, was murdered by his mom’s landlord, Joseph Czuba, in a Chicago suburb in 2023 over anti-Muslim rhetoric.
In response to Kirk’s “Day of Remembrance,” the Community Renewal Society (CRS) plans to meet on Oct. 14 at the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters — located at 1901 W. Carroll Ave. — to celebrate and honor those whose lives have been tragically stolen, and yet there’s still a struggle for justice and recognition for them. “Day of Remembrance: Remembering Our People & Our Power” is a free event and will go from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Details here.
CRS is a faith-based, community organizing and public policy organization that works with congregations in and around Chicago to address issues of racism and poverty. CRS represents over 50 churches in the Chicagoland area, according to Brian Young Jr., a CRS organizing associate.
“This is over 50 churches that carry out the tradition of justice our ancestors brought about even under the shackles of chattel slavery. From the repression of the slave owners, Jim Crow, War on Drugs, to this current white supremacist backlash, Black, brown, and working-class people have always used church to organize our people towards justice,” Young said. “It’s not just a gorgeous edifice to gaze upon, but an institution to ward off white supremacist rule and to push for our emancipation. We continue that tradition now.”
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Even though he dedicated his life to equality, justice and nonviolence, it wasn’t until 15 years later — in 1983 — that a national holiday in his honor was signed into law. Some states, such as Arizona and New Hampshire, refused to acknowledge the Dr. King holiday by name. New Hampshire referred to the federal holiday as Civil Rights Day until a bill was passed by the state legislature in 1999, which made MLK Day an official holiday in New Hampshire.
Kirk’s “Day of Remembrance” was proposed and swiftly passed as a congressional resolution just one week after his death — a stark contrast from the struggle King’s legacy endured posthumously.
“This event right here is CRS doing what we do best, and that is bringing together the community, community leaders, faith leaders, movement leaders, into one room to practice being in solidarity with each other,” said Young, who uses they/them pronouns.
The CRS program will feature two panels. First there will be a community solidarity panel, centering movement leaders and how communities show up for each other across struggles. The leaders featured during the discussion will be Frank Chapman (NAARPR), Richard Wallace (Equity and Transformation), Omar Flores (Immigrants Rights Defense Committee), Nazek Sankari (U.S. Palestinian Community Network), and a speaker from Jewish Voice for Peace.
The second panel will feature movement and faith leaders across coalitions, and the discussion will focus on grounding Chicagoans in collective solidarity and action. The list of faith leaders attending the discussion is not currently available to the public.
There will also be musical tributes and choir performances honoring lives that have been taken too soon.
“The greatest weapon that the people have historically is our solidarity, and that weapon is a weapon that will crush any Goliath,” Young said.
