Chicago, IL – On Monday morning, June 29, a crowd representing dozens of organizations stood together with Mayor Brandon Johnson to announce the introduction of the Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO). The press conference happened downtown across the street from city hall, where the PRO was formally introduced at a meeting of the Committee on Housing and Real Estate later the same morning.

“Housing is a human right. That cannot just be a rallying cry. That must be the reality for every Chicagoan,” Mayor Johnson declared. “We must use every tool available to us to keep Chicagoans in their homes.”

Lisette Castañeda, commissioner of the Department of Housing, explained the five components of the PRO: the creation of a tenant bill of rights, a citywide rental registry, an office to investigate and enforce renter’s complaints, legal representation for tenants facing eviction, and just cause for eviction or nonrenewal of leases.

“This will give the department the power to hold bad landlords accountable,” Castañeda explained.

Johnson criticized previous administrations that “kept organizers at arm’s length.” His approach of working with organizers showed in the variety of organizations present in support of the PRO.

Tulsi McDaniels, an organizer with Metropolitan Tenants Organization, shared the experiences of tenants who are currently vulnerable to arbitrary fees and eviction.

“Even in situations where a tenant has done everything right and used the current RLTO law to the fullest extent, it isn’t enough.” McDaniels said. The PRO would be the first major rewrite of the Residential Landlord Tenants Ordinance since its introduction in 1986 during the administration of Harold Washington.

Public comments were divided between landlords and renters. Landlords are against the PRO because it would not allow them to charge junk fees, excessively increase rent, or evict people for no reason. In her comment, Chicago Teachers Union member Rose Taylor urged committee members to think of working-class people who usually can’t make it to city council meetings on a weekday morning.

“As an educator I’ve seen firsthand the impact housing insecurity has on a child’s education,” high school social studies teacher and CTU Housing Committee chair Kevin Moore said in his public comment. Moore also described the benefits the PRO would have for the health and safety of his students outside of school.

The PRO will be voted on in the fall and, if it passes, will go into effect on January 1, 2027. With landlords putting their time and money into opposing the ordinance, it will be important for renters and working class people to fight for the PRO.

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #BrandonJohnson #Housing #Renters

Chicago, IL – El sábado, 31 de enero, acompañado por activistas comunitarios que han estado en las calles defendiendo a los inmigrantes contra la ocupación de ICE, el alcalde Brandon Johnson firmó una orden ejecutiva histórica.

La orden ejecutiva hace Chicago la primera ciudad que requiere a la policía investigar y referir agentes federales para procesamiento penal por delitos graves.

“Nadie está sobre la ley. No hay ninguna cosa como la ‘inmunidad absoluta’ en Estados Unidos,” dijo el alcalde Brandon Johnson. “La ilegalidad de los agentes de inmigración militarizados de Trump pone en peligro inmediato las vidas y el bienestar de los residentes de Chicago. Con la orden de hoy, le estamos advirtiendo a ICE en nuestra ciudad. Chicago no se sentará mientras Trump inunda nuestras comunidades con agentes federales y aterroriza a nuestros residentes.”

El gobierno federal ha dicho que está planeando otro surgimiento de ICE en el área de Chicago este marzo. El llamado del alcalde Johnson al procesamiento penal es en respuesta a la ausencia de consecuencias legales tras el tiroteo contra Marimar Martínez en Chicago y los asesinatos de Silverio Villegas González en Franklin Park, un suburbio de Chicago, y el de Renee Good y Alex Pretti en Minneapolis.

Frank Chapman de la Alianza de Chicago Contra la Represión Racista y Política dijo, “Estuve orgulloso de acompañar al alcalde Johnson ayer cuando firmó una orden ejecutiva histórica que ordena al Departamento de Policía de Chicago involucrarse activamente en hacer que los agentes de ICE rindan cuentas, presentando denuncias hacia la oficina del fiscal de estado.”

La fiscal estatal, Eileen Burke, es bien conocida por fallar en luchar contra ICE. Ha evadido demandas para investigar y cerrar la instalación de ICE en Broadview, con reportes de tratamiento inhumano hacia detenidos. Burke también ha rechazado la prosecución del agente de ICE quien asesinó a Silverio Villegas González, un trabajador inmigrante baleado por ICE después de dejar a su niño en la escuela en Franklin Park en septiembre.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #CAARPR #NAARPR #BrandonJohnson

Chicago, IL – On Saturday, January 31, surrounded by community activists who have been in the streets defending immigrants against the occupation by ICE troops, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a historic executive order.

The executive order makes Chicago the first city to require the police to investigate and refer federal agents for criminal prosecution of felony violations.

“Nobody is above the law. There is no such thing as ‘absolute immunity’ in America,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “The lawlessness of Trump’s militarized immigration agents puts the lives and well-being of every Chicagoan in immediate danger. With today’s order, we are putting ICE on notice in our city. Chicago will not sit idly by while Trump floods federal agents into our communities and terrorizes our residents.”

The federal government has stated they are planning another ICE surge in the Chicago area in March. Mayor Johnson’s call for prosecution is in response to absence of legal repercussions in the wake of the shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago and the killings of Silverio Villegas González in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park, and Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said, “I was proud to stand with Mayor Johnson yesterday when he signed an historic executive order ordering CPD to actively engage in holding ICE agents accountable by filing complaints with the States Attorney office.”

State’s Attorney Eileen Burke is well known for her failure to stand up to ICE. She has dodged demands to investigate and close the Broadview ICE facility, notorious for reports of inhumane treatment of detainees. Burke also refused to prosecute the ICE officers who killed Silverio Villegas González, an immigrant worker shot to death by an ICE officer after dropping his child off at school in Franklin Park in September.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #InJusticeSystem #ICE #BrandonJohnson #AlexPretti #KillerICE #CAARPR #Feature

Chicago, IL – Over 20,000 Chicagoans marched in downtown Chicago, Sunday, January 25, through the cold and heavy snow, in response to the brutal murder of Alex Pretti and the ongoing occupation of Minneapolis by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The protest, organized by the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA), demanded charges for Jonathan Ross and all DHS agents involved in murders, that Congress cut all funding to ICE, and an end to collaboration between the Chicago Police Department and ICE.

The fire of resistance is burning everywhere

Lawerence Benito, the executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) said, “When Silverio was murdered here in Chicago, when Keith Porter was murdered in LA, when Renee Good was murdered, and yesterday, when they murdered Alex Pretti in Minneapolis – we know that these are not isolated incidents. Over 50 people have died at the hands of ICE.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson marched alongside protesters.

Mayor Johnson stated, “Let's send this message to Minneapolis: Chicago stands with Minneapolis. We stand with this country to defend the honor of working people, Black people, brown people, white people, Asians. We are coming together as one to defend our humanity. Let them hear you, Chicago! Let’s keep organizing, let's keep pushing, and let's stand together.”

Illinois's 25th District Senator Karina Villa drew connections between the murder of Laquan McDonald and the murder of Renee Nicole Good. Villa stated, “This is a state inflicted violence. This is systemic abusive power. This is a government that is recklessly spending instead of investing in education, healthcare and housing.”

Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) said, “Our fellow freedom fighters in Minnesota, they are the hope on the horizon. They have shown us the golden dawn of another day. And we're not talking about them same old bullshit days of racism. We’re talking about a new day of freedom for all the people! That's what our fight is about. We are not just trying to save a democracy that wasn’t working in the first damn place – that ain’t what we doing. We're fighting for a system that’s gonna work for all of us, because we gonna make it work.”

“We should not be paying for our own occupation!” said Diane Castro of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Gianna Escareno, one of the co-chairs of CATA and outreach chair of the Immigrant Rights Working Committee (IRWC) of CAARPR, highlighted the importance of broad solidarity and coalition across different struggles, such as the movements for Black and Chicano liberation, the movement to free Palestine, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and immigrant rights movements.

Escareno stated, “We know that Bovino is threatening to send at least 1000 CBP agents to Chicago this March. And just like we followed Minnesota’s lead during the George Floyd uprising, we will follow their lead once again in resisting Trump’s attacks! There is a fire of resistance burning everywhere!”

The crowd marched down Michigan Avenue, taking major streets and gathering supporters as they chanted “We will say it every time, resisting ICE is not a crime!”

The march unified with a faith leader-led vigil at Federal Plaza for Alex Pretti and all victims of ICE before ending with a rallying cry, “We’re not cold, we're not tired, we won’t stop ‘til ICE is fired!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #CATA #CAARPR #BrandonJohnson #Feature

Chicago, IL – Over 400 community members from the South Side of Chicago gathered March 30 for a community listening session featuring Mayor Brandon Johnson.

After more than two months of attacks on Chicago from the White House, the mayor spoke and answered questions about his platform and in defense of the city.

The listening session was held at the Trinity United Church of Christ, an historic civil rights church in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the South Side.

Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), opened the event with a call for unity. “Black, brown and working-class Chicagoans must unite with Brandon Johnson to face down the racist and reactionary agenda of mass deportations and drastic public service cuts wielded by Republicans at the local and national level,” Chapman said.

Unprecedented level of attacks on immigrants, workers

In his first 60 days, Trump has signed over 100 executive orders attacking progressive causes, dismantling public services and laying off federal workers. His administration has particular animosity for Chicago, a union city under Black, progressive leadership.

“There is a war being perpetrated against Chicago by Donald Trump,” Chapman said.

“But the war was underway before January. Since the spring of 2022, Republican governors in Texas, Arizona and Florida have trafficked hundreds of thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities around the country in a racist – and costly – political ploy.

“Texas Governor Greg Abbott has spent $148 million to bus over 100,000 migrants to Democratic cities across the country, according to reporting by National Public Radio.

“By the fall of 2023, Chicago was receiving up to 25 busloads of migrants a day.”

Chapman emphasized, “Some of Johnson’s enemies have falsely claimed he invited the migrants to Chicago. They were sent here to torpedo the Johnson administration. They sent them to create distraction and disunity among our people so that we could not focus on the progressive agenda that this administration was elected on.”

But even as thousands of families were dropped off in communities already stretched thin by decades of disinvestment, Johnson upheld Chicago’s sanctuary city status and worked to provide housing and human services by leaning on community partners, including Black-owned businesses.

In response, Republicans in Washington, DC called Johnson to testify in a congressional hearing at the beginning of March in an attempt to intimidate mayors of sanctuary cities. CAARPR mobilized two vans of Chicago organizers and community members to DC to support their mayor as he defended Chicago for providing a home for immigrants.

The case for Mayor Johnson’s program

For his part, when the mayor took the pulpit, he described Chicago politics before his election in 2023. “It was government of, by, and for the wealthy and the well-connected; a government that responded to the interests of lawyers, bankers and investors, and only some developers; it was a government that responded to the financial advisors, school closers, privatizers and billionaires.

“But now we have a government of the people and for the people for the first time in 40 years.”

Johnson spent much of his 20-minute speech describing the efforts of his administration to invest in Chicago communities: fixing streets, bridges and lighting in public spaces; replacing lead pipes in 30,000 homes; building thousands of new affordable housing units on the West Side; adding thousands of homeless shelter beds, and eliminating the waitlist for shelter requests.

In the realm of health and safety, investments include the opening of a free mental health clinic on the far South Side. There was a big struggle to save that clinic from being closed, a struggle against one of the most hated mayors in Chicago history, Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel was such a tool of the billionaires, the late Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis dubbed him, “Mayor 1%.”

Johnson is the first mayor since Harold Washington who has fought to reverse the trend of neoliberal disinvestment that has plagued Chicago’s South and West Sides for decades.

Addressing the biggest labor battle going on in the city, Johnson announced, “For the first time in 15 years, we could get a teachers’ contract without a strike or a strike vote. No other mayor could have brought together the board of education, the mayor’s office and CTU to the table to make sure that our children get what they deserve, which is a fully funded, well rounded education.”

At the end of his remarks, Johnson addressed the attacks from the White House, stating, “Let me make one thing very clear: the individual that is engaging in one of the most iniquitous acts of government, that is working to intimidate us, to disrupt the evolution of our democracy, to get us to surrender our humanity – no matter what the president says or does, we will continue to move to build a better, stronger Chicago that works for everyone.”

After the mayor’s presentation on his platform, he answered a series of questions submitted by community members and selected by the organizers. The questions touched on police accountability, education, housing, Black and brown-owned businesses and mass incarceration.

When asked about what he can do to stop police crimes, Johnson mentioned the mayoral task force dedicated to rooting out extremism within the Chicago Police Department (CPD), and said he would meet with any family seeking justice for a loved one harmed by police.

Johnson conceded that there is an issue with the CPD and excessive use of force and lamented the huge sums of taxpayer money spent on police misconduct settlements, which he said could be spent on affordable housing or other progressive causes.

When he first was introduced, several people in the audience raised their voices to demand justice for a mentally ill Black man recently killed by CPD. While the protesters were there to disrupt the event, the mayor had responded with the empathy he felt for that man, having lost one of his two brothers to drug addiction and mental illness.

Unity against reactionary Trump agenda

From the perspective of CAARPR, Frank Chapman said, “There is no need for total agreement on all points. There is a need to unite in struggle against the reactionary attacks at an unprecedented level.”

“Whatever differences we may have, they are not equal in any way to the differences we have with the Trump administration,” Chapman said.

The meeting closed with about half the audience coming forward to shake hands with the mayor. Many expressed to Chapman and the organizers from Trinity their appreciation for the chance to hear the mayor and committed to the fight against the Trump agenda.

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #CAARPR #BrandonJohnson #

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.

Billed as a “Sendoff rally for Mayor Johnson,” when the mayor entered the church, it was clear this was a crowd of his supporters.

The crowd raised the roof with a chant made famous in the 1960s on the West Side by Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party: “all power to the people!” During the 60s, this slogan meant that Black people, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans, and the working class in the U.S. are the people, in struggle against the tiny minority referred to today as the billionaires.

Start of a new movement?

Jitu Brown, a new member of the first elected school board in Chicago history, was early among the speakers at the rally. He framed the advances in the history and current characteristics of the struggle here.

A veteran of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), Brown is perhaps most well-known for the 34 day Dyett High School Hunger Strike to stop the closing of schools in Black communities during the Rahm Emanuel administration.

Brown reminded us that the ruling class has closed over 160 schools in the Chicago Public Schools system, stating, “They didn’t want to improve public education: they wanted to remove Chicago as a Soul City.” A soul city refers to a city that is a majority Black. In the year 2000, 54% of Chicago public school students were Black. Today only 35% are Black. 47% are Latino, and 70% are low income.

The Dyett Hunger Strike took place in 2015, following Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s closing 50 schools in 2013, mostly in Black neighborhoods.

Standing against anti-immigrant attacks

Brown added, “Today a lot of the energy is anti-immigrant.” From his history being schooled by the Black power movement, he said, “We will not support the oppression of any people.”

Speaking of the history of the Black community struggle for good public schools, Brown went after Brandon Johnson’s enemies, stating, “A lot of the negativity that you are hearing about our mayor are from those people who have been using the city of Chicago as a pig’s trough for decades.”

“It is time for the city to do right by Black and brown people. We’re sitting in a city that has never had an elected school board, now with one.”

“We are in a city that has had privatizers running the city, and through our collective work, we put one of our own on the Fifth Floor.” The fifth floor of City Hall is where the mayor’s office is located.

Referring to Mayor Johnson’s appearance before the Republican-dominated Congress, Brown said, “This is just a little pit stop to let the world know we are building a better Chicago.”

“No matter how loud they bark, they are not going to disrupt what we call the soul of Chicago.”

Mayor Johnson: “Beauty of liberation”

Johnson took the pulpit as the crowd roared support. After speaking about the Republicans he will face in Washington, he said, “It’s important that we honor those that had enough foresight to put measures in place to ensure that the voices of marginalized people would never be squashed by the federal government or law enforcement. There was a brother by the name of James Montgomery, the first Black corporate counsel in Chicago history. He was also the legal counsel for the Black Panther Party.”

The mayor went on to say that “James Montgomery sent a note to Mayor Harold Washington that we should not allow federal agents to run through our city. Nor should we allow them to force local law enforcement to do their job.”

“They understood how the brutality of law enforcement could harm people. Whether you are undocumented or a descendant of slaves, James Montgomery understood that we cannot allow the federal government to suppress or oppress our people.”

Johnson closed his remarks with this: “We’re going to make sure that the roar that comes out of Chicago ignites a movement across America and across the globe. No matter where you’re from, you get to have the beauty of liberation in the city of Chicago.”

“We fight for working people! Are you with me, Chicago?”

The people united can never be defeated

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the lead organizer of the rally, spoke after Mayor Johnson.

“If you consider yourself a Black freedom fighter, engaged in the struggle for the liberation of our people, you cannot be guilty of hating on the immigrants. You cannot fall for the seeds of division planted by Trump and his reactionary minions, that somehow, some way, poor people coming from the south of our borders, seeking asylum; poor people seeking freedom from terror in their own lands, encouraged and supported by our government; that somehow this poses a problem for Black people.”

“This doesn’t pose a problem for us! We got a problem with the same people they have a problem with. We stand united with these people because we share a common oppressor: the billionaires that have always used the tool of racism to divide and conquer.”

Chapman called for support of the Sanctuary City laws that prohibit local law enforcement from engaging in immigration enforcement. “We reject the ideas that immigrants are criminals and deporting them would take the crime rate down.”

“What would take the crime rate down is to deport Trump!”

Black/Latino coalition

About one quarter of the crowd in the church were Latino activists and community members from the nearby Chicano/Mexicano neighborhoods. Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez was one of the Latino activists who joined the rally, representing the 25th Ward of neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village on the Lower West side of Chicago.

Sigcho-Lopez explained, “Chicago is a target. Trump targets us for deportations, but Chicago is also our hope.”

As his three small children gathered around him, Sigcho-Lopez said, “This is why we fight for the quality public education that all our children deserve.”

Sigcho-Lopez called for unity of all working people – Black, Latino, Asian and white – against attacks on immigrants and against the closing of public schools and unionized charter schools like Acero. In addition, last week ICE seized a father dropping off his children at Acero.

What do these two movements of resistance have in common? Sigcho-Lopez said, “The billionaires in DC and the billionaires in Chicago don’t have enough, so they take from the poor.”

“When we see parents being grabbed from their communities, we have to stand for the dignity of our people.”

“There’s no place I would rather be than Chicago, the city of Rudy Lozano and Mayor Harold Washington!” Sigcho-Lopez referred to union organizer and Chicano community leader Rudy Lozano, who supported the election of Harold Washington in 1983. This created for the first time a Black and Latino coalition, making possible the defeat of the white racist Democratic Party and election of Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor.

Chicago Alliance: On to Washington

In support of Mayor Johnson when he appears before the racist Republicans in Congress, Chapman announced, “Black History Month is over, but Black history is still going on, and we’re going to make some today. On the 5th, we’re going to Washington, DC to support our mayor and our city.”

Sigcho-Lopez gave special mention to the role played by CAARPR in organizing the rally. Crystal Gardner, one of the West Side organizers, also said afterward about this rally, “A big shout out to the Chicago Alliance for having the blueprint, vision, mission and base to activate spaces and communities. This is only the beginning, and I look forward to many more!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #ImmigrantRights #BrandonJohnson #CAARPR #NAARPR #CTU

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.

The resolution is also much stronger than many passed in other cities. It was presented as an Expression of Support for United Nations Resolution 377 known as “Uniting for Peace.” Adopted overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly, it calls for an immediate ceasefire. It reports the toll of Palestinians by the Israeli military: the number killed, including that it’s a majority women and children; as well as the tens of thousands wounded. It describes the destruction of hospitals, schools, places of worship, and homes in Gaza. It also recounts the level of political support for the ceasefire demand across the U.S.

On the other hand, the Zionists and their allies in the city council pointed out several times that this resolution would go against the policy of President Biden in his total support for Israel’s war.

Protest works, and elections make a difference

Hundreds of Palestinians and their supporters have been showing up in City Hall for the past three months. First, they came out to oppose a Zionist resolution that regurgitated the Israeli lies against the Palestinian resistance. Then ceasefire resolutions started to be presented in November.

Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, speaking in the hallway before the vote today, said, “We’ve come down to support this ceasefire resolution, put forward by Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez. We believe we’re going to win this resolution. We’re proud of the fact that the mayor of our city has come out in favor of a ceasefire.

“But more than that, according to the recent decision by the International Court of Justice, our government is engaged in a criminal enterprise with Israel. In other words, Netanyahu and Joe Biden are war criminals. In fact, we should change Joe Biden’s name to Genocide Joe Butcher Biden.

“It’s very important that Chicago, with the largest Palestinian population in the U.S., come out decisively for stopping genocide!” Chapman concluded.

The resolution was put forward by Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez and Alderman Daniel La Spata to call for an end to Israel’s military onslaught against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

When the crowd of Palestinian youth waiting on the first floor of City Hall heard the news of the victory, and that it had been a tie broken by the mayor, they erupted into the chant, “We will free Palestine! In our lifetime!”

The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and the Coalition for Justice in Palestine held a rally after the city council victory across the street in Daley Plaza, featuring the sponsors of the resolution.

Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN national chair, expressed thanks, naming “Rodriguez-Sanchez, La Spata, and a number of other champions of the resolution and of our community, including Alders Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Jessie Fuentes, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Jeanette Taylor, and of course, Mayor Brandon Johnson.”

Abudayyeh added, “We would not have been able to win this battle without each and every one of them, and now we move onward to use this victory as inspiration to continue demanding that Genocide Joe Biden stop supporting the genocide against our people.”

All of these elected officials have come into office since 2015, as a result of the united front of labor and Black and Latino community movement forces that began to emerge in Chicago in 2010. The election of Brandon Johnson, a veteran of the Chicago Teachers Union, is the most recent and highest office reached by this movement. Now the movement has stepped on to new territory with this resolution against a key feature of U.S. imperialist strategy.

This also portends a major struggle as the Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago August 19-22. Protests are already being planned by a coalition that includes CAARPR, USPCN, and other organizations.

#ChicagoIL #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #USPCN #BrandonJohnson #CityCouncil #Ceasefire

Chicago, IL – Over 300 supporters of the movements for Black and Palestinian liberation showed up to the Wednesday, January 24, Chicago city council meeting.

Organizers spoke in favor of a resolution put forth by Rossana Rodríguez Sanchez and Daniel La Spata calling for a ceasefire in Palestine, and against a Fraternal Order of Police-backed decision to send even the most severe cases of police misconduct to arbitration where they could be handled with no public oversight.

“The same tools used to oppress Palestinians in Palestine are also used to oppress Black and brown people in the U.S.,” said Third Police District Councilor Anthony Bryant, explaining the connection between the two struggles at the press conference outside City Hall before the council meeting.

Neither vote was decided on Wednesday. The arbitration decision was pushed to next month’s meeting after being referred to the labor and workforce committee. The Palestine resolution will be heard next week in a special meeting. The date and time have yet to be announced.

The participation of the Palestinian community and their supporters in this meeting is a part of an ongoing international campaign to stop the genocide in Gaza. Protesters in Chicago, led by the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and the Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP), have shut down roads, highways, airports, stores and meetings of elected officials on a weekly basis since the beginning of Al Aqsa Flood and the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide.

These persistent actions have resulted in Brandon Johnson becoming the first mayor of a large major U.S. city to call for a ceasefire.

“It is disappointing that the city council has not yet voted for a ceasefire amidst the horrific war crimes against humanity committed by the settler colonial state of Israel against the Palestinian people,” Omar Al-Yemeni, a member of USPCN, said during the public comments section of the city council meeting. “Our Palestinian, Arab, Black and brown communities ask you to ignore those who publicly say that they want to delay and kill the resolution, and instead be on the right side of history.”

“There’s no vote on ceasefire today because of a very cynical, dishonest and frankly disgusting move by some members of the city council who continue to try to criminalize and stigmatize our liberation movement by claiming that it’s insensitive to vote for a ceasefire resolution on the same day as Holocaust remembrance day, ” Hatem Abudayyeh, National Chair of USPCN, said.

“On the contrary, it is an affront to all people of conscience in Chicago to postpone this discussion and vote when over 25,000 Palestinians, including over 10,000 children, have already been killed by Israeli bombs, missiles and occupation forces.” Abudayyeh continued.

A resolution to recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day passed with no opposition. However, members of the public objected to comments from Zionist council members conflating the Palestinian resistance fighters with Nazis. Zionist Alderwoman Debra Silverstein’s use of the phrase “never again” drew jeers from the audience who were there to oppose the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

“When we say ‘never again,’ we have to mean never again for everyone, everywhere in the world,” said Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, summing up the thoughts expressed by many in the crowd during his comments on the resolution.

“The Zionists tried to kill the ceasefire resolution in committee, then in the full city council, but they can’t stop the mass movement,” said Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR). “Black and brown communities are united in standing firmly with Palestine against the genocide. As long as we continue to fight, we will win.”

“The killing has to stop, so yes we need a ceasefire,” Mayor Johnson said during a press conference after the meeting. “I wouldn’t be mayor of the city of Chicago if people weren’t pushing the government to recognize people’s humanity and what liberation means for people groups and nations. So in this instance people should be liberated. And I hope other people follow suit if the city council is in agreement with my particular position.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #USPCN #BrandonJohnson #CityCouncil #NAARPR

Editor’s note: Frank Chapman wrote this statement to call for unity in struggle by Black, Latino and working-class communities.

Chicago saw great victories earlier in 2023 through a united front under a Black and Latino leadership, with the first-in-the-country elections for democratic civilian oversight of the police, and the election as mayor of a trade unionist, Brandon Johnson. Johnson defeated a racist who was backed by the Fraternal Order of the Police, Paul Vallas. Vallas is known in Chicago history for introducing neo-liberal policies, which included major attacks on funding for public schools. 90% of Chicago Public School students are Black and Latino.

The unity that helped win these advances has been under attack. Political turmoil has emerged after the arrival in Chicago of 25,000 asylum seekers.

Alderperson Jeanette Taylor told a gathering of activists in her 20th Ward in October, “The Republicans are trying to divide us by sending thousands of immigrants here.” She explained, “We have more in common with each other than we do with those racists.”

Yes, we did it! Here in Chicago, we broke the chain of neo-liberalism that has held us in economic bondage for over four decades, from Reaganomics (trickle-down lies of the Eighties) to the present crisis in housing, the depression of real wages, and the rising tide of unpayable debt.

Our victory with the election of Mayor Brandon Johnson on April 4th created a crack in the system that has the potential of unleashing the most powerful democratic upsurge of the masses since the Sixties. It is because of this reality that “the powers that be” have gotten super busy in creating cracks in the coalition that got Mayor Johnson elected in the first place.

Seven months after the inauguration and we are still struggling to consolidate our victory in order for Mayor Johnson to make real the reforms he promised. At a time when we should be closing ranks to become a formidable force for progress, there are tendencies to shatter our unity, tendencies dividing our ranks and creating circular firing squads in the movement. The phase we are in now is that we must unite and fight our common enemy or lose all that we have gained up ‘til now.

Our focus in this phase should be to regroup and reeducate our forces to the reality that we must unite and advance or we will be defeated. The main question then is how we bring together the people – the working class and oppressed Black and Brown people – to the playing field with the mayor so we can move forward together to consolidate our gains and start building a real people’s movement for jobs, housing and a better life for all Chicagoans. Building a people’s movement for justice that will free the wrongfully convicted and bring the police (who are the cutting edge of mass incarceration) under community control in terms of regulating police misconduct by the Police Board, COPA and the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. We must build a united peoples movement for immigrants and asylum seekers bringing families out of the shadows of a police state.

Like Fred Hampton said, politics is war without bloodshed. What we are engaged in now is war and in war we must remain true to our principles and be willing to win by any means necessary.

#ChicagoIL #PeoplesStruggles #ImmigrantRights #BrandonJohnson #NAARPR #InjusticeSystem #Feature

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday April 4, Brandon Johnson won 51.4% of vote in the Chicago mayoral runoff election. Johnson's victory is also a victory for working and oppressed people, as demonstrated by the range of organizations and individuals who celebrated with Johnson and his family at the Marriott Marquis on election night.

Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said “I've been living for this moment since the Great Harold Washington in 1986, yet we didn't wait on history; we, the oppressed and the working class, made history.”

Several hours before polls closed, Adeline Bracey with Action Now, who canvassed for Brandon throughout the campaign and has been organizing for 11 years, said, “My family is from a rural town in Mississippi where they threw a smoke bomb in a church to stop Black people from voting. Having lived through that, not just reading about it, it’s crucial that I be a part of this movement here on this date.” Bracey was referring to the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4 1968.

In his victory speech, Johnson also pointed to the historical significance of his mayoral election and the movement that made it happen. “It was right here in Chicago that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organized for justice, dreaming that one day the civil rights movement and the labor movement would come together. Well Dr. King, the civil rights movement and the labor movement have finally collided and will make your dreams come true!” Johnson declared.

Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), of which Johnson is a member, introduced Johnson by explaining the unity and consistency of the movement that elected him: “It is the people who brought today's victory to reality.” Davis Gates said before she explained how Brandon Johnson worked with former CTU President Karen Lewis to hold the city accountable for closing 50 schools in 2013.

The 1000-strong crowd at the victory party included other leaders and members of CTU. The leadership and rank and file of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 and Healthcare Illinois and Indiana (HCII), Unite Here, and many other unions were also present. Community organizations represented included United Working Families (UWF), the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), Southside Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL), Good Kids Mad City, Indivisible Chicago, and many others. United with the progressive unions around Johnson’s campaign, these community organizations formed one of the most diverse coalitions the city has seen in decades.

This victory over Paul Vallas and his supporters in corporations and the pro-police lobby is the second time this year that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has been beaten in the electoral arena by progressive movements. The first was on February 28, when pro-accountability candidates were elected to a majority of seats in 14 of the city’s 22 Police District Councils.

Brandon Johnson has pledged throughout his campaign to support these district councilors in their efforts to hold the police accountable. The newly-elected district councilors, and some who ran but didn’t win, supported Johnson because of his promises to invest in the people. In contrast, Vallas stood for policies that would further enrich the capitalists who donated to his campaign and allowed it to outspend the Johnson campaign two to one.

“The people won Chicago,” said 3rd Police District councilor and organizer Anthony D Bryant, who attended the Brandon Johnson victory party along with several other newly elected district councilors.

April 4 also saw victories for other progressive electoral candidates. With Lamont Robinson in the 4th Ward, Desmon Yancy in the 5th, William Hall in the 6th, Ronnie Mosley in the 21st, Angela Clay in the 46th, and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth in the 48th, the runoff election saw a majority of progressive candidates win their races.

The newly elected progressive alderpersons will join incumbents such as Carlos Ramírez Rosa, Rossana Rodríguez, and Jeanette Taylor in City Hall, giving Brandon Johnson's administration a potentially more favorable city council than the one Harold Washington had.

While recognizing the historical impact of the election, Brandon Johnson and his supporters resolved to continue fighting for the various movements of working and oppressed people.

“With all of you, we've accomplished so much, but in the years to come we have a lot of work to do,” Johnson said. “We have a multicultural, multigenerational movement that has captured the imagination not just of the city of Chicago but the entire world.” He continued. “Let's take this bold progressive movement across the United States of America!”

After the celebration, Frank Chapman summed up how the movement would carry the momentum from this victory to others in the movements for working and oppressed people.

“It's like they used to say in Mozambique, ‘Aluta continua,’” Chapman said. “The struggle continues.”

#ChicagoIL #BrandonJohnson