Rummana Hussain

Editorial Board Member and Columnist

Rummana Hussain joined the editorial board in 2021 and is a popular columnist who writes on a variety of social and cultural topics. Hussain has held several jobs at the Sun-Times, including assistant metro editor, criminal courts reporter, general assignment reporter and assistant to columnist Michael Sneed.

Before joining the Sun-Times, Hussain covered education and criminal courts in Lake County for the Chicago Tribune and covered crime, education and City Hall for the now-defunct City News Bureau. A Chicago native, Hussain was named a Jefferson journalism fellow by the East-West Center in 2006. She has served on the board of the Chicago Headline Club and the local chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. She has a masters degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University. She lives in Rogers Park.

Sen. Barbara Blackmon, D-Canton, speaks at the well in the Senate Chamber at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Blackmon was among the Black lawmakers who walked out of the Senate Chamber in protest Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, and withheld their votes as the body passed a bill that would ban schools from teaching critical race theory.

Columnists

People of color live through discomfort. White kids will survive learning the truth about racism.

I didn’t know it then, but an incident during my sophomore year of high school encapsulates how many of us have had to douse our indignation and grievances, especially on matters of race, for the sake of white comfort.

By Rummana Hussain

In this Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, file photo, relatives and neighbors wail near the body of Mohammad Mudasir, 31, who was killed in communal violence in New Delhi, India. Many of the Muslim victims of last year’s bloody violence say they have run repeatedly into a refusal by police to investigate complaints against Hindu rioters.

Commentary

City Council resolution denouncing discrimination in India should be a no-brainer

But the resolution has been gutted so as to appease the Consulate of India in Chicago and other defenders of India’s right-wing nationalist prime minister and his reactionary political party.

By Rummana Hussain

The author (after trying cut her own bangs) and her older sister, Samina Hussain, at an Eid celebration at McCormick Place in the 1970s.

Columnists

Here’s hoping my family and I won’t look like a depressed and hangry Brady Bunch this Ramadan

Muslims are bracing to start Ramadan locked inside. Given the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Eid-ul-Fitr will be a virtual one.

By Rummana Hussain

A lota from the bathroom of the author’s friends.

Columnists

Out of toilet paper? There’s always the lota

Some of us have found a sliver of levity amid the coronavirus scare, watching our fellow Americans awkwardly balancing 30-pack, 2-ply toilet paper in their arms.

By Rummana Hussain

Actor Aaron Phagura, British writer Sarfraz Manzoor, guitarist Patti Scialfa with her husband singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, Director Gurinder Chadha and actor Viveik Kalra attend the premiere of “Blinded by the Light” at Paramount Theater on August

Columnists

This Indian-American loves The Boss, too

I used to think my younger sister, brother and I were the most devoted, if not the only, Bruce Springsteen fans of South Asian descent. But after reading Sarfraz Manzoor’s “Greetings from Bury Park,” I realize we’re far from alone.

By Rummana Hussain

Commentary

Being a Cubs fan is rough. A Muslim Cubs fan? Even rougher

Joe Ricketts’ later apology was hollow and insufficient. Switching sides and rooting for the White Sox, though, isn’t an option.

By Rummana Hussain

News

Homecoming feels a little less welcoming

The bullies are now targeting us for our religion and they have come off the swing sets and into political office.

By Rummana Hussain

Working the Story

Working the Story: How the Sun-Times got the scoop on ‘Dirty Schools’

Listen as Lauren FitzPatrick explains how she uncovered the story of filthy conditions and failed cleanliness inspections at Chicago Public Schools.

By Lauren FitzPatrick and Rummana Hussain

News

White House: Trump will donate $1 million to Harvey relief

Harvey’s flood waters have heavily damaged tens of thousands of homes across Texas and killed at least 30 people.

By Rummana Hussain