News and Views from the People's Struggle
Chicago, IL – Ryan Coogler’s movie Sinners is densely packed with social commentary. Much has been written about the film's reflections on a range of topics. This review is grounded in how the film addresses national liberation. Sinners demonstrates through its plot that Black liberation is incompatible with capitalism.
Chicago, IL – Chicago's Area 5 Police Districts had a special meeting on Monday, July 28, in response to community outrage over slow investigation into sexual assaults. The commander tasked with helping residents “learn more about how CPD works” was John Foster, who is linked to multiple cases of wrongful convictions. Survivors of police torture and their allies confronted Foster and demanded his removal from CPD.
Chicago IL – 50 demonstrators rallied outside Chicago’s Philippine consulate for a People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA), July 27. Filipino activists organized the PSONA to illuminate the real conditions faced by the Filipino masses a day before Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. delivered his SONA. Protesters demanded freedom for Filipino immigrants in the U.S. arrested by ICE, and an end to U.S. support for the Marcos regime.
Chicago, IL – Hundreds of people rallied outside McNally Capital headquarters on Tuesday evening, July 22, and chanted “Stop starving Gaza now!” Some banged pots and pans to make noise in a way symbolic of Palestinians waiting for food aid in Gaza.
The emergency rally was hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM).
Chicago, IL- On Thursday afternoon, July 24, 300 Chicagoans gathered for an emergency noise demonstration outside the Zionist entity’s consulate in Chicago in response to the intentional mass starvation in Gaza. The protesters demanded the immediate and unconditional lifting of the siege on Gaza and an end to all U.S. aid to Israel.
Chicago, IL – A crowd of Chicago Teachers Union members attended the school board meeting, July 24, carrying giant cardboard cupcakes with price tags representing the net worth of Illinois billionaires. Their demands are for Governor JB Pritzker to call a special legislative session and secure more funding for public education and other services, and for higher taxes on the rich to counteract the effects of Trump's “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Chicago, IL – Immigrant rights groups held a press conference July 22, calling for the shutdown of an ICE facility in the Chicago suburbs and demanding that local officials take action. When they attempted to deliver a letter detailing their demands to Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke O’Neill, they were threatened with arrest.
Chicago, IL – “The Make Polluters Pay campaign gives the state and Pritzker the chance to show that they stand with the people and not with big oil and gas. These polluters should pay for the damage they have done to our community,“ said Gianna Escareno to a crowd of over 40 people who rallied in front of the University of Chicago’s David Rubenstein Forum on June 20, where the Aspen Ideas Climate Conference was happening.
Chicago, IL – 100 Chicagoans came out in the rain on Saturday, July 19, to protest the continued genocide in Gaza and stand with the people of Syria and Palestine. The Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP) called this protest in response to escalations of Zionist attacks on Syria. Protesters demanded “Not a penny not a dollar” for the Zionist entity’s crimes and chanted “Gaza needs food and water! Israel, stop the slaughter!”
On July 10, Students for Justice in Palestine and their allies came out in force at the Chicago office of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) showing once again that the movement for a free Palestine is as strong as ever.
Chicago, IL – On Wednesday morning, July 16, hundreds of people packed the Chicago city hall lobby ahead of the city council meeting. Many youth and community organizations stood united in opposition to the racist snap curfew ordinance that was put forward by Alderman Brian Hopkins two months before. This snap curfew would give the Chicago Police Department unchecked power in the instance of a mass gathering to institute a curfew with only 30 minutes notice and engage in mass arrests.
Chicago, IL – “We are here to demand that Governor JB Pritzker live up to his promise of standing up against the cuts and the cruelty of the Trump administration,” Chicago Teachers Union member Jesse Bostic said to the hundreds of people who rallied in Daley Plaza on Saturday afternoon, July 12.
Better Streets Chicago organized the protest in response to the Illinois government’s failure to secure funding necessary to prevent 40% service cuts to public transportation.
Chicago, IL – Dozens of teachers and school staff rallied outside the Board of Education (BoE) headquarters on Wednesday, July 9. They carried signs saying, “Fund schools, not ICE” and “Pritzker, where's our money?” among other slogans. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members demanded that Governor JB Pritzker call a special legislative session to fully fund Chicago's schools.
Chicago, IL – On a stormy Fourth of July, 1000 Chicagoans marched to oppose Trump’s racist and reactionary agenda. The people marched to oppose Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that he signed into law Friday.
The new law slashes safety net programs that feed and educate children and provided healthcare for the poor and disabled. It also adds an estimated $3.3 trillion in debt and gives billionaires tax cuts. More tax dollars will now go for deportations, police repression, Israel’s genocide in Gaza and war against Iran.
Chicago, IL – On Wednesday July 2, around 100 striking workers joined the picket line outside Mauser Packaging Solutions Steel Drum Reconditioning plant in Chicago. The facility has sat closed, with the operation halted and the gates locked, for almost a month as a result of the strike called by Teamsters Local 705 due to unfair labor practices committed by Mauser during the negotiations for a new contract.
By Zhenya Aleksandrovna and Caryn Hart
Chicago, IL – Several hundred people mobilized in downtown Chicago, June 28 to demand the end of all U.S aid to Israel and divestment of Illinois bonds from companies complicit in the occupation of Palestine.
This weekly demonstration was organized by the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP). CJP has organized mass demonstrations almost every week for nearly two years since the current Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza began in October 2023.
Chicago, IL – On Friday, June 27, allies of the Los Angeles group Centro CSO gathered at noon in downtown Chicago for a press conference and rally in support of CSO immigrant rights activists Alejandro Orellana and Verita Topete. Orellana and Topete have been targeted by the FBI in the weeks since the Los Angeles protests against ICE raids.
“We’re here to demand that the federal charges against Alejandro Orellana be dropped,” Joe Iosbaker of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, said. “Raids and federal grand juries are attacks on progressive movements, on our freedom to speak, to assemble, and to tell the government that their actions and their policies are wrong.”
Chicago, IL – “Hands off Iran!” echoed loud in downtown Chicago on June 23, after U.S. bombing of Iran nuclear sites. Over 500 people rallied at Federal Plaza and marched to demand “U.S. out of Iran and the Middle East” and an end to the genocide and all U.S aid to Israel.
The demonstration was called by the Anti-War Committee Chicago (AWC) and the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN).
Hands off Iran!
”No war on Iran! Let us be clear, this is not about nuclear weapons. We’ve seen this before. What we are witnessing is not an attempt of global security, but a ruthless punishment of Iran for its refusal to bow down to U.S. imperialism and its unwavering opposition to Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation. This campaign of aggression must end now!” said Luna Ebrahim of USPCN.
Caeli Kean of AWC reinforced solidarity with Iran and other Arab resistance against U.S. aggression, saying, “They want to blame Iran for its internationally recognized right to defend itself from U.S. and Israeli aggression. They want to blame Palestine for its international right to resist oppression and occupation. They want to blame Yemen for its international right to intervene and prevent genocide. They want to blame everyone stopping this violence. It is crystal clear that U.S. imperialism is the source of all of this violence!”
Early during the demonstration, Husam Marajda of USPCN had announced to the crowd the ceasefire announced by Donald Trump agreed upon by Iran, Israel and the U.S. Marajda stated, “That’s a good thing. We don’t want war. And we want an end to U.S. and Israeli aggression in the region immediately.”
Marajda emphasized the power of the people in the United States in pushing the government to keep its hands off Iran, he stated, “Let’s be clear, the reason why this war did not escalate was because the people here in the United States rejected it. They opposed it and mobilized against it, here in Chicago and all over the country.”
Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupations!
After the rally at Federal Plaza, protesters flooded into the streets of downtown Chicago, taking Michigan Avenue and ending at Trump Tower. Chants demanded an end to the U.S. military in the Middle East and the Philippines, and an end to oppressive walls and surveillance, from Palestine to Mexico.
The attention of bystanders was captured by Husam Marajda, who stated, “They are sending and spending billions of dollars on weapons to bomb other countries and we say, that ain’t right! “
“Marajda continued, We want money to go to disenfranchised communities. We wanna fund our schools, our infrastructure, our healthcare. We wanna get money to communities long impacted by colonialism and by racism. We wanna invest in the people, not in the destruction of other countries.”
#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Iran #Palestine #USPCN #AWCChicago
By Kaya Rial and Kobi Guillory
Chicago, IL – 50 people rallied in Washington Square Park on Saturday, June 21, near the two Gold Coast properties of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. They demand that the governor grant executive clemency to the hundreds of proven survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction who are still incarcerated in Illinois.
The action was organized by the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST), one of the central campaigns of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR).
Chicago IL – Youth and community organizers packed the main chambers and the overflow room of City Hall on Wednesday morning, June 18 to speak out against the snap curfew ordinance which would allow the police superintendent to call a curfew with a 30-minute notice before enforcement. Any minors outside after the curfew would be taken into custody and their families forced to pick them up from the police station with the possibility of a $500 fine.