+
More

How the internet responded after 2 Muslims were killed in NYC.

#IllWalkWithYou

Thara Uddin used to water his own garden — and then his neighbors', too. That's just the sort of thoughtful person he was.

On Aug. 13, 2016, moments after saying prayers and leaving his place of worship, Uddin was shot and killed alongside Imam Maulama Akonjee, the leader of the mosque he attended.

Their deaths have rattled the Muslim community in Queens, New York — and beyond.


Folks mourn the loss of two Muslim community members in Queens. Photo by Kena Betancura/AFP/Getty Images.

Although the investigation is ongoing and a motive has yet to be established, many believe it was a hate crime they believe Uddin and Akonjee were murdered because they were Muslim.

It's not an irrational thought, either, seeing as Islamophobia is anything but a dying form of bigotry in America. Last year, there were triple the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes compared to the year before, NBC News reported in December 2015.

In response to the murders, #IllWalkWithYou started cropping up across the internet.

The viral hashtag — created and shared by allies who are committed to standing in solidarity with their Muslim friends and neighbors — has been a shining ray of hope in the wake of a very dark situation.

The simple phrase packs a whole lot of love into four little words.

For interfaith couples, the hashtag might mean something a little bit more.

Some used the hashtag to point out that sometimes justice fails, and that's not OK.

While others noted that the hashtag was really humanity at its finest.

Many people, however, used the hashtag in a literal sense — to let their loved ones and Muslim neighbors know that they're only a phone call (or tweet) away.

From Washington, D.C. ...

...to Minnesota...

...and all the way to Tennessee.

The hashtag popped up from coast to coast, letting Muslims know there are plenty of people who'd walk with them around town, to provide safety in numbers wherever they need to go.

Even a few friends across the pond — who've witnessed their own recent wave of Islamophobic violence — got wind of the message and threw their support behind it.

In the wake of senseless violence, the hashtag made hearts a little bit fuller and the world seem a little less threatening to Muslims everywhere.

The hashtag also spurred conversations about what needs to happen in order for a viral hashtag to make lasting change.

Like calling out the fact that, in order to curb anti-Muslim violence, we need elected officials who will actually do something about it — not help perpetuate the bigotry.

After all, you don't have to be Muslim to understand what it's like to live at a greater risk of discrimination and violence in the U.S.

Women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, people of color — the list goes on and on when it comes to the groups and communities who know what it's like to be targeted and what it's like when someone has your back.

When we all commit to having each other's backs, it makes the whole world a safer — and more beautiful — place to call home.

A size 21 Nike shoe made for Tacko Fall.

A local reporter at Hometown Life shared a unique and heartfelt story on March 16 about a mother struggling to find shoes that fit her 14-year-old son. The story resonated with parents everywhere; now, her son is getting the help he desperately needs. It's a wonderful example of people helping a family that thought they had nowhere to turn.

When Eric Kilburn Jr. was born, his mother, Rebecca’s OBGYN, told her that he had the “biggest feet I’ve ever seen in my life. Do not go out and buy baby shoes because they’re not gonna fit,’” Rebecca told Today.com. Fourteen years later, it’s almost impossible to find shoes that fit the 6’10” freshman—he needs a size 23.

Keep ReadingShow less

Dog does the 'pick a card' challenge and it's adorable.

There are a few kinds of dog parents: ones that only have outside dogs, those who have inside dogs but they're absolutely not allowed on the furniture and dog parents who treat their dog as if they birthed them themselves and give them every luxury invented for four-legged fur children.

Clearly, people are going to have feelings one way or the other about dogs and their place within a household, but I think everyone can agree that seeing a dog be pampered will always be adorable. Opie the Pit Bully is one of those lucky doggos who wound up living in the lap of luxury, and the pooch got to do a "pick a card" day to showcase that his owner loves him the mostest.

In a video uploaded to TikTok by Opie's owner because...ya know, opposable thumbs and all…Opie is faced with two cards that he can't read: 1) because he's a dog, and 2) because the cards are facing toward the camera. That doesn't stop the sweet puppers from playing along, though.

Keep ReadingShow less

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by David Cadenas on Unsplash

What we imagine the look on Mr/ Pickles' face to be after becoming a dad.

It’s been an exciting time for a couple of tortoises at the Houston Zoo—and really, for tortoises everywhere.

The zoo announced on its blog that their oldest resident, Mr. Pickles, a 90-year-old radiated tortoise, and his 53-year-old companion Mrs. Pickles (that’s quite an age gap there sir, but no judgment) recently welcomed three new hatchlings.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, here are the new baby names: Dill, Gherkin and Jalapeño.

Clearly, Jalepeño is the spicy one of the bunch.

While this news is certainly momentous for Mr. and Mrs. Pickles, it’s also a huge achievement for the entire species, which is currently critically endangered.
Keep ReadingShow less

Grace Linn, 100, speaks at a Martin County School Board meeting on March 21, 2023.

Four hundred years ago, copies of William Tyndale’s English translation of the Bible were publicly burned by the bishop of London, with church authorities insisting that the Bible should only be read in Latin (and only by the clergy). In the centuries since, many books we now consider classics such as Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," Jack London's "Call of the Wild," Walt Whitman’s "Leaves of Grass," Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables, Charles Darwin’s "Origin of Species"—even Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and "Benjamin Bunny"—have been banned or censored in one way or another in various countries.

Battles over books are nothing new, but once in a while, they become particularly ugly or absurd, prompting people to speak out against book bans.

People like 100-year-old Florida resident, Grace Linn, whose speech at a Martin County School Board meeting has gone viral.

Keep ReadingShow less
The Tonight Show/ Youtube

Jennifer Aniston appearing on "The Tonight show"

Let’s face it, platonic relationships between men and women rarely get the same amount of attention as romantic ones, to the point where we debate whether or not they can actually exist in the first place.

That’s what makes a clip of Jennifer Aniston gushing about her decades-long friendship with Adam Sandler so cool to watch. There’s no Harry-Met-Sally-ing here, just one pal talking about another pal.

Aniston sat down with Jimmy Fallon to promote the film “Murder Mystery 2,” starring both Aniston and Sandler, but the conversation quickly veered into several anecdotes about “The Sand Man,” including how the two first met at a deli in their 20s.

As with any healthy friendship, there’s plenty of ragging on each other.

Keep ReadingShow less