About 65 UNC students protested the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Shaima Alawadi in front of Wilson Library Thursday

In hooded sweatshirts and head scarves, UNC students looked to make a statement Thursday afternoon.

About 65 students gathered on the steps of Wilson Library for a photo shoot to symbolically protest acts of racial discrimination — specifically, two recent cases they said targeted the black and Muslim communities.

Trayvon Martin was a black 17-year-old who was shot and killed while walking in his neighborhood in Sanford, Fla., by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who said he was acting in self-defense.

Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old Muslim and mother of five, died after being beaten last Wednesday in her California home with a tire iron.

She was found with a letter next to her that read, “This is my country. Go back to yours, terrorist.” She was originally from Iraq.

At Thursday’s photo shoot, students held hands, standing solemnly together in front of a sign that read “Hoodies & Hijabs 4 Justice.”

Sophomore Amira Shehata, who organized the event, got the idea from Wake Forest University. After seeing their photo, she wanted to organize the same event at UNC, she said.

“I got a lot of great reactions, because both African-Americans and Muslims were being represented here,” Shehata said. “We wanted to stand for all minorities and show that we need justice for everyone.”

Shehata said she organized the event primarily because she wanted to spread awareness about these two recent injustices.

“These are two really important cases because they symbolize how minorities are treated in general,” she said.

“The way the criminals retaliated in these cases was consistent with stereotypes. I want people to be informed, to realize that.”

Freshman Cora Went, who posed in the photo shoot, said she wanted to make a statement against racial profiling.

“These are not specific people doing bad things,” she said. “These are people who were profiled because of the way they look. What we’re saying here is that anyone could be the person wearing the scarf, anyone could be the person wearing the hoodie.”

Shehata also said that she wanted to make a statement to condemn injustice. The students thought it was important to protest and point out that while Martin’s killer has not yet been prosecuted, Alawadi’s case has not even been widely publicized, she said.

Sophomore Sarah Zamamiri said she wanted to participate to show that she stands in solidarity with the victims.

“These are hate crimes, and hate crimes cannot be tolerated in the United States,” she said. “We’re here to show that they cannot be tolerated by the African-American community, not by the Muslim community, not by the Jewish or Christian communities.

“They should not be tolerated by anybody.”

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