Imam Adeyinka Mendes, a social organizer, educator and author, spoke at the encampment on Deering Meadow Thursday evening. Mendes is the Muslim-cultural Students Association’s spring speaker, and was originally slated to speak at 555 Clark St.
McSA announced it was moving the location of the event to Deering Meadow Thursday afternoon after student protesters set up a pro-Palestine encampment Thursday morning. Mendes said he wasn’t expecting to be there, but called it “God’s plan.”
Quoting the Prophet Muhammad, Mendes implored the crowd to “Help your brother, help your sister, be they the oppressor or the oppressed.”
Mendes spoke to protesters about the themes present among student protests, tactics of resistance and unity among people of different faiths.
“I am a Muslim, but I have stood and I continue to stand with my brothers and sisters who are Jewish, Christian, Baháʼí, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, who are Atheist, who are Agnostic,” Mendes said. “We can make this world more beautiful, more sacred, more secure, more prosperous for all of us and our children and our grandchildren.”
A Jewish senior, who asked to remain anonymous, said Mendes was an “impressive” public speaker, and noted that he “really knows his stuff.”
“When he was listing different religions that were welcome, without just saying, like, ‘et cetera,’ he straight-up listed a bunch of different people,” she said. “It really felt quite welcoming.”
Mendes delivered a land acknowledgement and said he aimed to recognize the “occupied land” on which Northwestern stands. He then emphasized getting to know protestors of different backgrounds, because love is the most powerful force in the world, he said.
Mendes compared protesters to others in history, including anti-Vietnam War protests in the late 1960s and anti-apartheid demonstrations in South Africa.
“The good that I do, the justice that I do, the love that exudes from me, ultimately has a domino effect on the rest of the world,” Mendes said. “This is what wins. This is what brings victory. This is what allows us to see the reality of our struggle.”
Henry, a sophomore who asked not to use his last name, said he appreciated Mendes’ emphasis on unity between people of all backgrounds in their efforts to stand up against injustice.
He said the McSA’s collaboration with the NU Divestment Coalition’s encampment was an impressive show of the togetherness Mendes spoke of.
“I think that it’s an important demonstration of cooperation and support between student groups on campus,” Henry said. “I think this is a big moment of collective power and collective change.”
Mendes’ speech ended with a round of chants of “free, free Palestine” and “in our lifetime.”
“The greatest tactic of those who wish to keep Gaza under occupation is dividing us,” Mendes said. “Whenever you unite, whenever you lock arms with someone who is different than you in this struggle, you have defeated them.”
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— Photo Gallery: Activists set up encampment on Deering Meadow
