Chicago, IL – The congregants at Healing Temple Church on Chicago’s West Side welcomed veteran community organizers to a rally against attacks on their beloved city, on March 1.

150 people came to the church to defend Mayor Brandon Johnson, who, along with several other progressive mayors has been called to testify before racist Republicans in Congress. This is a continuation of the Trump agenda's attacks on Chicago for being a progressive city with strong movement forces.

Chicago, IL – The streets of Little Village in Chicago were filled with the sounds of drums and voices, February 8, as a crowd of 1500 people of all ages moved through this historic Mexicano/Chicano neighborhood.

Marchers representing a coalition of 30 organizations came together in response to the call by the Legalization for All Network for national days of action to stop the attacks on immigrants.

Chicago, IL – 300 activists, mostly from Latino communities, and many who are immigrants, packed into City Hall this morning to oppose an attack by city council members against Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance.

Cook County Commissioner Anthony Quezada kicked off the rally with chants alternating between Spanish and English. “When Black people are under attack, what do you do?” “Stand up, fight back!”

Chicago, IL – On Monday, August 19, the Democratic National Convention comes to Chicago. The Coalition to March on the DNC, consisting of more than 200 organizations, will bring tens of thousands of protesters to the streets surrounding the United Center.

The front banner in the street will read, “Stand with Palestine! End U.S. aid to Israel!” Because this is mainly a march for Palestine, the Democratic Party powerbrokers are scared.

On Monday, August 12, U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood ruled against the coalition’s lawsuit, which sought a longer march route than the city of Chicago had offered. The coalition argued the need for a longer route because the short one-mile route offered by the city would have most of the marchers still in the park when the front marchers return.

Brussels, Belgium – A packed house of several hundred people witnessed a dramatic legal proceeding this past weekend. May 18 and 19. An International People’s Tribunal was held, initiated by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle.

In its conclusion, the tribunal named Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., former President Rodrigo Duterte, U.S. President Joe Biden and the U.S. government all guilty of charges of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.

Chicago, IL – At an April 30 press conference, speakers announced that a motion for a preliminary injunction has been filed in federal court by the Coalition to March on the DNC. They are asking a federal judge to block the city of Chicago from enforcing its ordinance regulating parade permits, as it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Speakers at the press conference included Chris Williams, Attorney; Hatem Abudayyeh, US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN); Faayani Aboma Mijana, Coalition to March on the DNC; and Liz Rathburn, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – University of Illinois at Chicago.

Chicago, IL – The Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention (DNC) met in Chicago the weekend of April 13. Speaker after speaker testified with fire in their eyes about the need to march against the genocide in Gaza. Along with the speeches, people got down to the tasks needed to bring tens of thousands to Chicago in August to protest the DNC.

The 450 in attendance were overwhelmingly youth. Many are brand new to protest movements, having been thrown into motion by the anti-war and Palestine solidarity movement.

Chicago, IL – Groups supporting Palestine are suing Chicago to ensure that Joe Biden “can hear us and see us” at the Democratic National Convention in August, sats Kobi Guillory, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC.

When the convention opens at the United Center, August 19, the coalition is adamant that they get the attention they deserve.

Guillory states, “As the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza continues unabated – with over 32,000 killed, almost all by U.S. bombs and missiles – we must march. This is the party in power, the party of Genocide Joe Biden. Biden could stop the war with one phone call. He refuses to take action, and so we must protest.”

Chicago, IL – The Palestinian community and their movement allies won an historic vote January 31. With 500 protesters crowded into City Hall, the Chicago city council passed a ceasefire resolution, becoming the largest city in the country to have done so.

The vote was extremely close: 24 to 23. In fact, the vote among council members ended in a tie – 23 to 23. Mayor Brandon Johnson broke the tie. He forecast his courageous action after last week’s city council meeting when he said to the press, referring to the genocide in Gaza, “The killing has to stop. So, yes, we need a ceasefire,” Johnson said.

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.

Chicago, IL – Celebrating 50 years since it was founded in Chicago, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), gathered here again, November 3-5.

The National Alliance is new wine in an old wine skin. Executive Director Frank Chapman, the legendary Angela Davis, and a small band of movement veterans from the 1970s and 1980s were surrounded mainly by a sea of college and even high school students, young workers, Gen Z and Millennials. Most of the conference attendees were Black, Latino, Arab, Asian and Pacific Islanders.

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.

Chicago, IL – Chicago lost a well-known fighter for immigrant rights on December 11. José Sigfredo Landaverde was a priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe Anglican Catholic Church in Little Village. Padre Landaverde was also a friend of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. He died after a long battle with illness.

Chicago, IL – The November 8 midterm election is important around the country, as the seemingly formidable reactionary wave in electoral politics continues. In general, the task in most states is to defeat the most reactionary and backwards candidates.

Chicago, IL – Chicago saw two developments this past week in the struggle for democratic control of the police by the Black and Latino communities in Chicago. First, after a long delay, Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed the interim Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA). This was created out of the passage of historic legislation in 2021, Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS), the most democratic legislation for police accountability in the country.

Chicago, IL – On June 2, 250 students at Little Village Lawndale High School (LVLHS) in Chicago walked out of school to demand “Police out!” They marched through Little Village, which is the largest Latino neighborhood in Chicago, to the North Lawndale neighborhood, which is a Black community. The protest was organized by the LVLHS FightBack student group, which called for “Black and Brown Unity.”

Peoria, IL – The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) brought a dozen activists from Chicago to Peoria, Illinois May 16 for the opening of the federal trial of Anthony Gay. Gay had previously defeated the charges when, in an historic trial, he won a hung jury representing himself. He is facing the same assistant U.S. attorneys and federal judge.

Chicago, IL – Since 2018, Anthony Gay has become a symbol of the struggle against wrongful convictions in Illinois.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine led a crowd of close to 1000 people, mostly youth from the Palestinian community in the Chicago area, to protest the attacks on the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, April 18. The Coalition includes the American Muslims for Palestine, United States Palestinian Community Network (UCPSN), Students for Justice in Palestine- Chicago (SJP), Al-Nahda, Palestinian American Community Center, and Palestinian American Council.

Chicago, IL – I just returned from eight days in Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, where the capital, Manila, is located. For many years, the movement for national democracy in the Philippines has asked for international solidarity, including human rights defenders to aid them in their struggle for economic and political rights. The presence of people from other countries can help diminish the violence of the Philippine military and national police against the movement. In addition, as national elections approach on May 9 there has been a rise in human rights abuses, and so the need for international solidarity is more pressing.