Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

ChicagoIL

By staff

Chicago, IL – Family and supporters of Murod Kurdi packed a Bridgeview Circuit court room, August 8, to demand justice in a case that highlights the racism of the Oak Lawn Police Department.

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By Angel Naranjo

Chicago protest demands drop the charges against the Tampa 5.

Chicago, IL – On August 9, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at UIC and Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression joined forces with a powerful coalition to demand justice for the Tampa 5, at a rally in the Federal Plaza.

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By Eric Struch

Demonstration organized by the Chicago Transit Justice Coalition.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Transit Justice Coalition (CTJC) is a rank-and-file opposition caucus of Chicago Transit Authority workers in Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241/308. They publish a newsletter called Finally Got the News. The CTJC was launched in December of 2019. They encourage 241/308 members to be proactive in fighting against what Local 308 member Eric Basir describes as “tyrannical managers.”

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By Joe Iosbaker

Loretto workers stop a UPS delivery truck. They have stopped multiple deliveries

Chicago, IL – 200 workers at Loretto Hospital are on the ninth day of their #StrikeForStaffing. This is their slogan because they are the lowest-paid CNAs, housekeepers and tech workers in any safety net hospital in Chicago. Because of their low wages, workers have to work 50 or 60 hours a week to make ends meet. Being forced to work excessive overtime isn’t best for patient care.

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By staff

Chicago hospital workers on the picket line.

Chicago, IL – 200 workers at Loretto Hospital on Chicago’s West Side walked out of work at 7 a.m. Monday, July 31.

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By Liz Rathburn

Chicago rallies during storms in solidarity with the Tampa 5.

Chicago IL – On July 12, despite heavy rain and tornado warnings, more than 50 people rallied in downtown Chicago to demand that the charges on the Tampa 5 be dropped. The protest was part of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression National Day of Action for The Tampa 5’s second court date.

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By staff

Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability meets.

Chicago, IL – Shon Barnes, Angel Novalez and Larry Snelling were nominated by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) as the next superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) on July 13 at Kennedy King College in the Englewood neighborhood. The Commission selected these three from 54 applicants through a 120-day process after the resignation of Superintendent David Brown, who was appointed by Mayor Lightfoot.

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By Haden Kersting

Teamsters practice picket at a UPS hub in Chicago drew over 300 people.

Chicago, IL – On July 14, 300 workers turned out for the latest practice picket and rally at the UPS Jefferson Street Hub on the Near West Side of Chicago. International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 705 and Local 710 organized this event, which was the largest of many practice pickets in the Chicago area that occurred throughout the week. Flyers promoting the event read, “Chicago Teamsters stand up to UPS greed!”

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By Haden Kersting

UPS Teamsters picket line in South Side of Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago IL – 70 workers and community members marched outside of UPS’s Morgan Street Hub on the South Side of Chicago, July 11. This was one of many practice pickets that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 705, is organizing at UPS centers across the Chicago area. This comes as negotiations between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Parcel Service (UPS) remain at a standstill, primarily over pay for part-time workers.

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By Kobi Guillory

Chicago protest against police assault on asylum seekers.

Chicago, IL- On July 6, news outlets reported that Chicago police officers allegedly sexually assaulted several asylum seekers who had been sleeping in the lobby of Chicago's 10th District police station. One of the asylum seekers, a teenager, was impregnated. The news prompted outrage from community members.

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By Liz Rathburn

Chicago protest demands Florida drop the charges against the Tampa 5.

Chicago IL – On Saturday, July 1, more than 70 students and activists gathered in downtown Chicago. They joined the nationwide campaign by Students for a Democratic Society and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression demanding that the charges on the Tampa 5 be dropped.

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By Aracely Barajas

Chicago protest against anti-immigrant attacks in Florida.

Chicago, IL – At the Little Village Arch on Chicago’s 26th Street, 25 people took to the streets, June 18, and made it known to our community that our action is needed, in response to Florida’s anti-immigrant legislation. People shared stories of previous movements, spoke their truth, stopped traffic, gave literature to those passing, and were supported by the 25th ward alderman.

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By Frank Chapman

District Councillors for Brandon Johnson.

Chicago, IL – Our perspective on the elections must be based on a sober, scientific analysis that assesses the relationship of forces in this moment in order to find the pathway forward. We believe that objective social relations in the final analysis is what determines subjective evaluations. In other words, we must take every precaution to make sure that every policy change, every tactical adjustment and firming up of our strategy is soundly rooted in a concrete analysis of concrete conditions.

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By Frank Chapman

Johnson table

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By John Metz

Participants in the the  People’s Hearing for Survivors of Police Crimes

Chicago, IL – On Saturday, June 3, newly sworn-in Police District Councilors, community groups and survivors of police misconduct gathered at Gorham Methodist Church on Chicago's South Side for the inaugural People's Hearing on Police Crimes.

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By Kobi Guillory

Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela at Chicago Nakba commemoration.

Chicago, IL- “Let us all join hands in the inevitable march to freedom for Palestine and we dare to dream of a free Palestine where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live side by side in peace as they have done for centuries,” stated Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, South African member of parliament and grandson of revolutionary icon Nelson Mandela, to an audience of 400 at the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters, on Saturday, May 20.

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By Kobi Guillory

May Day march in Chicago.

Chicago, IL – 400 people rallied in the rain on Saturday, April 29 to celebrate recent victories in the people's movements and uplift their present demands. After an hour-long program, the crowd marched from Union Park to five different politically significant locations. Among other chants in English and Spanish, the crowd declared “The people united will never be defeated!”

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By Frank Chapman

Harry Belafonte.

Chicago, IL – We dip our banners of struggle for the civil and human rights icon, Harry Belafonte, who joined the ancestors yesterday, April 25, surrounded by family and friends in his New York City home. Belafonte was born in Harlem in 1927 and died at age 96. He always acknowledged that, “most of my family in Jamaica were plantation workers,” hence Day-O, or Banana Boat Song, had the lyrical line, “Come mister tally man, tally me bananas.”

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By staff

Educators at Instituto del Progreso Latino in Chicago protest for better working

Chicago, IL – The bell rang, and teachers, staff and students slowly rolled out the school doors. Today they were all wearing union red at the two Instituto del Progeso Latino (IDPL) schools in Chicago. They grabbed signs and started to chant and picket, “Who’s schools? Our schools!”

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By staff

Frank Chapman.

Interview with Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Fight Back!: The Democratic Party has announced that their convention will be held in Chicago, August 19 through 22, 2024. The National Alliance was part of the March on the Democratic National Convention Coalition in Milwaukee in 2020. Will you march again at the Chicago convention?

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