We are circulating the text of Frank Chapman’s Dec. 3 speech at Chicago’s 26th annual People’s Thanksgiving event. Frank Chapman is a veteran of the Black Liberation Movement and a leading member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Chicago, IL – “This is unacceptable – Jerusalem is our capital!” was the chant led by Muhammad Sankari of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), as over 500 people protested in the Federal Plaza in Chicago’s Loop, Dec. 7. An hour later, by the time the crowd arrived at the Israeli Consulate, the march had swelled to 2000 people – in a sea of Palestinian flags and keffiyehs, the traditional Palestinian scarves.
Chicago, IL – The corporate media has only now begun reporting the atrocities committed against black Libyans and African migrant workers by racist CIA-backed proxy forces since they ravaged the country and overthrew the Libyan government in a 2011. CNN reports that African migrants are currently being sold for as little as $400 each to perform excruciating labor. The racist proxy forces engaged in the slave trade would not exist without NATO.
Chicago, IL – More than 200 people took part in a protest against killings by police, Nov. 24, boycotting Black Friday on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. This is the third year in a row that marchers came out to demand justice for Laquan McDonald, murdered by a Chicago cop in 2014. The protest also demanded freedom for torture victims of the Chicago police, and an elected civilian police accountability council (CPAC). The march was organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Chicago, IL- Hundreds of activists will take to the streets on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile to interrupt business on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year.
Chicago, IL – A memorial was held, Nov. 11, where friends, family, and comrades of Josephine Wyatt gathered to remember her 95 years of life and struggle.
The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) has been organizing against police crimes for decades. Since 2012, they’ve led a five-year campaign for community control of the police. They have also organized several protests against Donald Trump since he was elected. Fight Back! interviewed Frank Chapman, Field Organizer of the Alliance, about the situation in the U.S., after Charlottesville, Virginia was the scene of the racist ‘Unite the Right’ rally and assault on counter-protesters.
Chicago, IL – Every year on August 30, the Black Panther Party Cubs and Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr. (the son of martyred Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton, Sr.) throw the Chairman Fred Streetz Party, a commemoration of his father's 1948 birthday. Chairman Fred, Sr. was assassinated on Dec. 4, 1969 in a 4 a.m. Gestapo-style raid carried out by the Chicago Police Department, Illinois State's Attorney’s Office and the FBI.
Chicago, IL – All progressives, anti-imperialists and socialists should see the film A Taxi Driver. This Jang Hoon movie, starring Song Kang-ho as Kim Man-seob and Thomas Kretschmann as Jürgen Hinzpeter, tells the story of the May, 1980 uprising in Gwangju against the extreme right-wing military coup led by General Chun Doo-hwan.
Chicago, IL – Today, Sept. 24, is the seventh anniversary of the 2010 FBI raids targeting 7 homes of anti-war, international solidarity and Palestinian-American activists. Subsequent grand jury subpoenas were served to nine additional activists in December of that same year.
Chicago, IL — About 150 people gathered outside the international terminal, Sept. 19, at Chicago's O'Hare airport in support of Rasmea Odeh. The send-off rally was the last chance for supporters to say goodbye, as Rasmea was forced to depart the U.S. after an almost four-year legal and political struggle. Speakers applauded Rasmea and a defense campaign that put Israel on trial for its crimes, and lifted up the cause of Palestinian liberation.
Chicago, IL – Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is a member of the Chicago City Council who is well known to every progressive activist in Chicago. Brought to office in a 2015 wave of insurgent candidates opposing Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pro-business agenda, the 28-year-old Rosa has become a fixture at labor rallies, protests against Trump’s attack on the undocumented Dreamers, as well as community meetings fighting gentrification.
Chicago, IL — 1000 protesters gathered in Chicago to protest the murder of Heather Heyer and the injuring of 19 others by American Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12.
Chicago, IL – A standing room only crowd of over 1200 people packed the International Union of Operating Engineers hall for the August 12 farewell event in honor of Palestinian liberation icon Rasmea Odeh. The hosts were those forces that had worked tirelessly on her behalf for four years: the Rasmea Defense Committee, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), and the Coalition to Protect People’s Rights.
Chicago, IL – Over 100 protesters marched on the Cook County Court building for a pretrial hearing in the murder proceedings against Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke. Dash cam video showed Van Dyke shooting Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager, 16 times.
Chicago, IL — At 8 a.m. on August 11, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) will lead a rally outside the Cook County Courthouse before the court hearing for Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke.
Chicago, IL – Teachers and parents fighting Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s attacks on public education scored a concession from the city. In April, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) fired Sarah Chambers, the teacher who chairs the Special Education Task Force for the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). The fightback to this latest attack got the administration to end a budgeting practice implemented last year known as “comingling.”
CHICAGO, IL- The movement to ‘Let Sarah Chambers Teach’ has grown since her May termination from Maria Saucedo Academy. An online petition calling for her reinstatement has gathered nearly 4000 signatures; a support rally organized in April drew a crowd of over 100, and 28 aldermen have re-leased letters of support for the educator.
Chicago, IL – On July 13, over 75 Palestinian and Arab women gathered at Jerusalem Banquets to celebrate the release of Towards the Sun, a book written by members of the Arab Women's Committee (AWC).