Chicago

Chicago Becomes Largest City In US To Demand A Ceasefire In Gaza

February 1, 2024 People's Dispatch. Resist! Ceasefire, Chicago, Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Occupy, Palestine, Student Activism

On January 31, Chicago became the largest city to formally call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. Riding on a wave of massive grassroots support from unions and students, the city of Chicago voted in favor of a resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire. With a tie in City Council (23 for and 23 against), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson cast the tie-breaking vote and the resolution passed, to the cheers of constituents gathered in City Hall. For days, hundreds of students have been occupying the City Hall of Chicago, demanding that the council pass the resolution. Ahead of the vote, the Chicago mayor ordered the police to clear out the public from the city council chambers.

Our Union Called For A Cease-Fire; It’s About Our Students

January 21, 2024 Dave Stieber, In These Times. Strategize! Ceasefire, Chicago, Education, Illinois, Israel, Palestine, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

If you teach, your absolute worst nightmare is that something tragic happens to your students. Teachers don’t just think about students when they are in front of us; we think about them throughout each day and night. They are a central part of our lives. When a young person steps into our classroom, the first thing we do is work to connect. That’s the best way students learn. When a student doesn’t live up to their own potential, we take it personally. We obsess about what went wrong. Caring about students also means deliberately caring about the world we are helping them grow into. It has never been enough to only teach students when they are in the classroom; we have to advocate for them all the time.

Chicago Protesters Condemn Bombing Of Yemen, Genocide In Palestine

January 15, 2024 Fight Back News!. Resist! Chicago, Genocide, Israel, Palestine, Yemen

Chicago, IL – Over 750 protesters braved the coldest weekend of this winter so far on Saturday, January 13 to demand that the U.S. and its allies take their hands off Yemen and end their support of Israel’s genocide in Palestine. The protesters spoke in favor of Yemen's naval blockade against Israel as well as in support of South Africa charging the apartheid state with genocide at the International Court of Justice. This was the latest in a string of weekly protests organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine since October 7, 2023. In addition to the usual chants of “Free Palestine” and “No more money for Israel's crimes” protesters chanted “Yemen, Yemen stand your ground. Turn another ship around.”

Black Investors Take Back Legal Tool To Restore Chicago’s Affordable Housing

December 29, 2023 Kelli Duncan, Next City. Create! Affordable Housing, Chicago, Housing, Predatory Lending, Racism

It was early 2020 when Jay Davis realized his family was going to lose his childhood home, a red brick house in Rosemoor on the South Side of Chicago that had been in his family for generations. Davis’ great-uncle had been living there, and as his dementia worsened the one-story house began to deteriorate. When he died, he left it to his son who had serious health issues and could not maintain the home, Davis said. Davis, 41, wanted to keep the house from becoming another vacant lot on the South Side. He understood the significance of homeownership as a tool for building generational wealth that has been denied to many Black Chicagoans due to racist practices like redlining and predatory lending.

International Migrants Day: How To Change The System?

December 21, 2023 Neal Resnikoff, Orinoco Tribune. Create! Capitalism, Chicago, Latin America, Migrants, migration crisis

The UN General Assembly proclaimed December 18 International Migrants Day in 2000. It took into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world. It aimed to further the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The Convention recognizes the human rights of migrant workers and promotes their access to justice as well as to humane and lawful working and living conditions. It provides guidance on the elaboration of national migration policies and for international cooperation based on respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Chicago Fraternal Order Of Police Dealt Third Political Defeat For 2023

December 17, 2023 Joe Iosbaker, Fight Back! News. Resist! Accountability, Chicago, City Council, Fraternal Order of Police, Police abuse

Chicago, IL – “How do you spell racist? FOP!” The crowd of 50 protesters on the LaSalle Street side of Chicago City Hall were loud and determined, December 13. As usual when there is a vote in city council that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) cares about, there were extra cops on hand for intimidation. But the movement for police accountability had been standing up to the Chicago Police Department for decades. Among the protesters was Anjanette Young, a medical social worker. In 2019, the Chicago Police mistakenly raided her West Side home. Young, a Black woman, had just stepped out of the shower when they busted in her front door.

As Chicago Punts On Apartment Safety, Denver Shows What’s Possible

December 4, 2023 Alex Nitkin, Next City. Create! Chicago, Colorado, Denver, Housing, Illinois, Landlords

The tenant of a two-story house in east Denver had been expecting Kevin Lewis when he knocked on her door this past June. After a brief introduction and a glance around the home, Lewis quickly checked the water pressure, power outlets and the cooling sources in each room. He reached a wiry arm up to a ceiling smoke alarm and pressed a button, prompting a chirp to echo through the house. “Music to my ears,” Lewis said, already halfway to the basement to make sure the boiler had a working gas line connection. Minutes later, Lewis was gone — on to the next house. Lewis wasn’t sent by the city to investigate a complaint, nor by a prospective buyer.

Pollution Displaces Black Residents; White Homeowners Profit

November 25, 2023 Adam Mahoney, In These Times. Educate! Black America, Chicago, Environment, Gentrification, Housing, Illinois, pollution, Racial disparities

Englewood Chicago — Deborah Payne’s neighborhood of 35 years on Chicago’s South Side no longer exists. Dirt piles tower where families once gathered for Sunday dinners in single- and multifamily homes. Concrete lots cover backyards where children watched fireworks and caught lightning bugs. Streets that maintained generations of Black Chicago razed and left empty for railway cars. Today, less than 10 blocks from Payne’s old neighborhood, sits the repercussions of diesel pollution caused by the expansion of a railyard. Over a decade ago, the city, along with railroad giant Norfolk Southern, announced a plan to buy out Payne’s 12-block community of more than 200 households to replace it with the freight yard.

Activists Disrupt Thanksgiving Parade: End Genocide, Don’t Celebrate It

November 24, 2023 Emma Lee and Kyle Thibodeau, Left Voice. Resist! Chicago, Genocide, History, Illinois, Indigenous People, Israel, New York (NY), New York City (NYC), Palestine, Thanksgiving

Today, pro-Palestine protestors disrupted Thanksgiving Day Parades in New York City and Detroit, all sending the same message: end genocide, don’t celebrate it. In Detroit, protestors marched in front of the Thanksgiving Day parade route carrying banners reading: “From Turtle Island to Palestine, genocide is a crime” and “Detroit stands with Gaza,” giving a spotlight to Palestine during Israel’s ongoing atrocities. In Manhattan, protestors disrupted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an annual corporate parade watched nationwide, with signs and banners reading “Genocide then, genocide now.”

FBI Attempts To Question Chicago International Solidarity Activists

November 19, 2023 Fight Back News!. Resist! Chicago, FBI, Illinois, State Repression

On November 15, three FBI agents came to the Chicago home of an international solidarity activist in Chicago who had traveled to Venezuela. The activist wasn’t home, but the agent in charge gave the landlord his card. He asked to be let into the building, but the landlord refused and instead reported the visit to the tenant. The activist called the People’s Law Office, a well-known legal collective that defends political activists targeted by repression. The People’s Law Office attorney learned that the FBI claims to be conducting an investigation, that the activist, who the FBI would like to question, is not a target, and that it may involve a person, entity or trend (political/ideological) that FBI claims to have concerns about.

Migrant Health In Chicago Suffers Due To Lack Of Planning And Support

October 28, 2023 Candice Choo-Kang, People's Dispatch. Educate! Chicago, Health Care, Housing, Migrant Rights

Over 17,000 migrants from Latin American and Caribbean countries have been bused into Chicago since August 2022, the majority arriving since May 2023 when Title 42 expulsions ended. Chicago has struggled to house these new arrivals, and has resorted to hosting many in park field houses and police stations. As of October 13, about 3,000 migrants are being hosted at police stations, with hundreds of these families sleeping outside in recreational camping tents as the number of people allowed to stay inside the stations has been limited. To address the overflow problem, the city plans to create “base camps” where migrants will be sheltered in winterized tents.

Students For A Democratic Society National Convention Held In Chicago

October 22, 2023 Shaine Carrol-Frey, Fight Back News!. Organize! Chicago, Illinois, Israel, Palestine, Students for a Democratic Society, Youth Activism

Chicago, IL – On October 14 and 15, roughly 160 members and affiliates of the New Students for a Democratic Society(SDS) from over 20 campuses met for their annual National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The students came from all over the U.S. to unite under the slogan of “Students Defend Education, Unions Strike Back!” to highlight both the attacks of education, especially ethnic studies such as Black studies and American Indian studies, and the increased level of union activity in 2023. Attendees listened to panels and gave workshops over a variety of topics, sharing strategy and tactics with SDS chapters from across the country.

The Squatters Asking Why Chicago’s Public Housing Is Filled With Vacancies

October 13, 2023 Roshan Abraham, Next City. Resist! Chicago, Homelessness, Housing, Housing Crisis, Squatting

In late August, a group of Chicago residents were forcibly removed from a building they called home, a longtime-vacant property owned by the Chicago Housing Authority. The residents were part of a rotating group of squatters who had occupied the home for 20 months, a group that included a housing activist and people who had been living in tents in a nearby homeless encampment. For two years prior to the occupation, the home—a picturesque two-story property in the quickly gentrifying Humboldt Park neighborhood—had been vacant. It’s one of more than 2,000 housing units under the Chicago Housing Authority’s ownership that lie empty, according to city data.

Bakehouse Workers In Chicago Fight For Independent Union

September 19, 2023 Jennifer Lenz, The Real News. Organize! Chicago, Labor Movement, Unions, Worker Rights

Despite the Biden administration’s decision to terminate the national Public Health Emergency Declaration on May 11, COVID-19 has continued to spread and mutate, leaving millions dead around the world and millions of others chronically ill, permanently disabled, and/or immunocompromised. The pandemic itself, and the botched responses to it by powerful state and market actors (including, and especially, the United States), have inflicted irreversible damage upon our societies, and that damage has been disproportionately felt by marginalized, poor, and working-class people. But the many injustices working people have had to endure during the pandemic, and the many sacrifices we have had to make, have also played a direct role in galvanizing the emerging wave of worker organizing and the renewed labor militancy we are currently witnessing.

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