Rummana Hussain

Chicago

Editorial Board Member and Columnist at Chicago Sun-Times

Editorial Board member/Columnist @Suntimes. Previously, assistant metro editor & criminal courts reporter repeatedly mistaken for the Spanish interpreter.

Featured in: Favicon

suntimes.com Favicon

chicagotribune.com Favicon

flipboard.com Favicon

realclearpolitics.com Favicon

chicagoreader.com Favicon

newsbreak.com Favicon

herald-review.com Favicon

jg-tc.com

wbez.org

chicago.suntimes.com

Articles

No more editorials at the Sun-Times, but letters, op-eds and columns will continue

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Tracy Brown |Rummana Hussain |Alden Loury

For more than 75 years, the Sun-Times Editorial Board has been an important voice in Chicago, advocating for the well-being of our city, holding the powerful to account and helping readers understand and navigate the complexities of the news.
This parody MAGA hat is just one sign of Muslim humor on the rise

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

I bought the hat because it made me laugh. But when I finally get around to taking it out of its plastic wrapper and wearing it in public, I don’t expect everyone to be amused. From a distance, the white uppercase lettering against a bright red backdrop is enough to instill fear or affinity, depending on the passerby’s politics.
Federal workers on edge as Trump guts agencies

2 months ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Matt Moore |Rummana Hussain |Neil Steinberg |Mitchell Armentrout

🔎 Below: With federal workers under attack by President Donald Trump’s administration, Chicago-area employees are worried about more than just job losses. 🗞️ More news: Getting a breast ultrasound is a “matter of life and death,” but having it covered by insurance is a challenge for some patients. ✍️ Editor’s note: We’ll be back Tuesday with your regularly scheduled newsletter. ⏱️: A 7-minute readTODAY’S WEATHER ☁️Cloudy with a high near 11 and wind chill values as low as -16.
Puppeteer who made 'U.S.-Israel War Machine' says art is 'misrepresented'

2 months ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

The two-faced puppet has been in hot water before. Over the summer, a middle-aged man sent scalding droplets flying onto the artwork in a failed attempt to douse a handful of pro-Palestinian protesters. A few days later, the puppet’s trousers flew off as it was hoisted through the crowds outside the Democratic National Convention. The puppet remains pantless. “He” has no legs, so the 12-foot tall can’t be accused of indecent exposure.
Biden's failures in Gaza will 'follow him around forever'

Jan 17, 2025 | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

The orphaned girl had hoped Joe Biden would have a change of heart when she begged him in a letter to stop Israeli forces from invading Rafah, the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city where over a million Palestinians have fled since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack cruelly marked them as prey. She planned to correspond with Jill Biden next, in case her husband needed more convincing. A second note, if the 8-year-old girl wrote one, never made its way to the White House.
'No one I know was proud of being Syrian until last week'

Dec 13, 2024 | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

Jihad Shoshara was looking forward to an overseas adventure in the Peace Corps after he graduated from the University of Chicago. But his father, an immigrant from the Middle East, and his mother, a second-generation Mexican American, were apprehensive. Shoshara had never traveled outside the United States before, and his parents were less than thrilled that he didn’t have a say in where he’d be assigned.
For me, Thanksgiving is eating turkey with an Indian kick - at 8 p.m.

Nov 15, 2024 | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

My family never observed Thanksgiving until I was a teenager. Although they were no strangers to the grim after-effects of colonization, my Indian immigrant parents weren’t taking a principled stance with Indigenous tribes to mourn the European settlers’ arrival in North America and the land theft, systemic persecution and genocide that followed. They just thought turkey looked gross.
Trump's outdated 'Barack Hussein Obama' jab shouldn't be offensive, but too many Americans allow it to be

Oct 18, 2024 | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

Throwing around Barack Obama’s middle name as a dog whistle is so 2008. Bigotry in America, however, never goes out of style, and so retro xenophobic slights make comebacks. I got flashbacks reading about Donald Trump’s repeated use of the first Black president’s full name when he spoke at the Economic Club of Chicago Tuesday.
Israel's deadly shooting of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi demands U.S. investigation

Sep 13, 2024 | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

Juliette Majid called Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi “Baklava” after the distinct cinnamon-laced phyllo dessert Eygi made from scratch and fed friends, exuding her sweet “big sister” energy. Others in the Seattle woman’s close circle, including Kelsie Nabass, referred to her by her middle name Ezgi — “melody” in Turkish — befitting Eygi’s harmonious nature and flair for bringing people together.
Like Kamala's mom demanded of her, Gaza protesters will 'do something' and keep speaking up

Aug 23, 2024 | chicago.suntimes.com | Rummana Hussain

The woman pressed her lips disapprovingly and brushed aside the media lanyard around my neck, before pulling up my collar to keep my black bra strap from being on display to the thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at Union Park last Wednesday. Later, as the 73-year-old marched near the United Center alongside others, who held signs that read, “It’s not complicated. It’s a genocide” and “Never again means never again for any of us,” she asked me if I wanted some SkinnyPop popcorn.