Veterans demand an end to war and occupation
Chicago, IL – On November 11, hundreds of people gathered at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, demanding an immediate end to the militarization and federal attacks on our communities, divestment from state-funded violence such as genocide and war, and rights for all workers.
“I wanna ask you veterans, I wanna ask you workers, for your solidarity as we demonstrate, as we organize, and we clarify the principles of this country, that it is freedom, it is democracy, it is solidarity that moves us, not disunity, not exclusion, and certainly not ICE,” said Stacey Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and Illinois Federation of Teachers.
Every year, About Face: Veterans Against War holds a rally on Veterans Day to demand benefits and adequate care for all. Community members carried signs demanding “Divest from genocide,” “No war on Venezuela” and “Vets say no cuts, no occupation, no ICE.” Speakers further connected Veterans Day with the struggle for immigrant rights, workers' rights and Black liberation.
Veterans demanded an end to the occupation of Chicago, as ICE agents have been violently attacking families, detaining loved ones, and using teargas in our communities.
“By speaking up and challenging injustice, I am choosing integrity over convenience, because I know silence in the face of wrongdoing isn't neutrality, it’s complicity,” said Joanne Gutierrez, an occupational therapist at Hamline Elementary. “As I speak up for those seeking safety and justice in our country, I want to speak up for veterans and working-class families, that are also struggling to get by.”
Gutierrez explained the connection between the devastating SNAP cuts, and gathering on Veterans Day, stating, “Access to full and robust education is being denied through education budget cuts, and over 1 million veterans and thousands of active duty and reserve service members are being denied full SNAP benefits, the same benefits that help feed their families, while the ultra-wealthy and corporations continue to receive tax breaks. We must choose people over profit, families over politics, and justice over convenience.”
Before marching from the memorial to Federal Plaza, Mohamed Yasin, a member of Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Arab American Family Services, reminded the crowd of the collective effort that our communities have made to keep each other safe. Volunteers from across the city and surrounding suburbs have been handing out whistles, calling local hotlines, and creating rapid response teams to document the kidnapping and terror against immigrant communities.
“ICE has been lying about community members being violent towards them. The weapons the community members have been carrying is their cell phones and whistles, so they can alert their communities of these abductors when they come. We say no to ICE, to occupation, no to war on Venezuela.”