Chicago, IL – Over 8000 people gathered in Union Park on May 1 to celebrate International Workers’ Day and march demanding protection for workers and immigrant rights.

Since May Day last year, Trump sent ICE and Customs and Border Patrol to Chicago for months of terror, with over 3000 members of immigrant communities arrested and taken away. The large contingents marching from immigrant communities in Union Park was a statement of courage.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said during his speech, “We are not going to stop fighting for every single worker and every single working family in this city and in this country and in this world,” and demanded that “we get our fair share of the equitable distribution of the wealth. Are you with me workers?”

Some of the principal organizers of this May Day protest included the Chicago Teacher Union (CTU), Service Employees International Union Health Care Illinois/Indiana, the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA), and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR).

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said, “Workers united with communities, across cultures, across industries, win the fight every time. Do not give up your power to assemble and do not give up your power to organize. Workers over billionaires!”

This year CTU organized to make May Day a day of civic action in Chicago. Together with families, they brought out over 800 high school students to participate in the protest. Hundreds of university students and graduate employees were also in attendance.

Nadia Alyafai spoke at the rally for the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and CATA. She said, “Our city is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in the United States, alongside a broader Arab immigrant population that has long been at the frontlines of the immigrant rights and other movements in this city. We were there alongside many of you when we put almost a million people in the streets to defeat the Sensenbrenner bill in 2006, and now 20 years later we still are fighting strong for justice for our communities.”

CATA marched with a banner demanding “Legalization for all. Defend voting rights. Stop all U.S. wars!” They marched together with the immigrant rights contingent organized by ICIRR.

Chicago has played a crucial role in the labor and immigrant rights movements. May Day was born in Chicago, the center of the nationwide1886 strike for the eight-hour workday. The resulting repression of the labor movement led to workers around the world declaring May 1 to be International Workers’ Day. On March 10, 2006, Chicago held the first mega march of the immigrant rights movement. That movement then called for nationwide marches on May 1. Over 2 million immigrants and their supporters took to the streets that day, which also brought May Day back to the labor movement in the U.S.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #ImmigrantRights #MayDay #FRSO #CATA #Trump #CTU

Chicago, IL – El martes, 24 de febrero, más de 30 estudiantes y miembros de la comunidad se reunieron en el Centro Cultural Negro de la Universidad de Illinois Chicago (UIC) por un estreno de Judas y la Messiah Negra, seguido por una discusión guiada por camaradas del distrito de Chicago de la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad (OSCL).

Dirigido y escrito por Shaka King, Judas y el Mesías Negro (2021) es un cuento cinemático de la historia del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra, el origen de base de la histórica Coalición Arcoíris de Chicago, y los días finales del presidente Fred Hampton del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra. Siguiendo la historia del difunto presidente y de William O’Neal, informante del FBI e infiltrador del partido, la película muestra la verdadera conspiración para asesinar al presidente Fred llevado a cabo por el FBI, la Fiscalía del Condado de Cook y el Departamento de Policía de Chicago.

Después de la película, Kobi Guillory, miembro de la OSCL en Chicago y del Sindicato de Maestros de Chicago, hizo preguntas sobre los pensamientos de la audiencia acerca de la historia de la lucha revolucionaria, solidaridad de clase y la represión política. Los participantes entre la audiencia contaron sus propias experiencias de brutalidad policial, seres queridos asesinados o secuestrados por los matones del estado, otros invocaron los orígenes de la policía de los EE.UU. como resultado de las patrullas cazadoras de esclavos.

Este Mes de la Historia Negra, es aún más importante que nunca recordar el legado revolucionario del Partido Pantera Negra y la Coalición Arcoíris: un legado de solidaridad de la clase trabajadora, de lucha contra la represión política anti-negra y anti-obrera. Fred Hampton, como presidente del Capítulo de Illinois del Partido Pantera Negra y vicepresidente del Partido Pantera Negra Nacional, vio con toda claridad la distracción que era la división racial de Chicago.

Tras la ola de violencia sancionada por el estado contra las nacionalidades oprimidas y quienes se solidarizan con ellas sigue en todas partes de la nación, continuamos luchando. Y en palabras del Camarada Fred Hampton, cuando te atreves a luchar, ¡te atreves a ganar!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #MovimientoEstudiantil #SDS #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #NacionalidadesOprimidas #Afroamericano #elMesdeHistoriaNegra #OSCL #CTU

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, February 24, over 30 students and community members gathered in University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) Black Cultural Center for a screening of Judas and the Black Messiah, followed by a guided discussion led by comrades in the Chicago district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Directed and written by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) is a cinematic telling of the story of the Black Panther Party Illinois Chapter, the grassroots genesis of Chicago’s historic Rainbow Coalition, and the final days of Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. Following the story of both the late chairman and William O’Neal, FBI informant and party infiltrator, the film depicts the real-life conspiracy to murder Chairman Fred carried out by the FBI, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office, and the Chicago Police Department.

After the movie, Kobi Guillory, a member of FRSO Chicago and the Chicago Teacher’s Union, inquired about the audience’s takeaways from this story of revolutionary struggle, class solidarity and political repression. Audience members recounted similarities to their own experiences of police brutality, loved ones murdered or abducted by state thugs, others invoked the very origins of U.S. law enforcement as rooted in the slave patrols.

This Black History Month, it is more important than ever to remember the revolutionary legacy of the Black Panther Party and the Rainbow Coalition: a legacy of working class solidarity, standing against anti-Black and anti-worker political repression. Fred Hampton, as chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and deputy chair of the National Black Panther Party, could see Chicago’s race divide for the smoke screen that it was.

In the wake of a torrent of state-sanctioned violence against the oppressed nationalities and those who stand with them continues across the nation, we continue to struggle. And in the words of Comrade Fred Hampton, when you dare to struggle, you dare to win!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #SDS #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #BlackHistoryMonth #FRSO #CTU

Chicago, IL – Leaders and rank-and-file members of the Chicago Teachers Union were joined by community supporters on Tuesday January 27, as they celebrated recent and historical victories won by CTU and the movement to defend public education. They also recognized the need to build ongoing struggles against ICE, racist policing and for fully funded public services.

“Unions are under attack because we refuse to be silent,” said, elementary school teacher Ashley Harris, explaining why CTU is currently being investigated by the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

“Our union understands that protecting public education is protecting racial justice,” Harris added.

“Having a teacher’s union that defends students and communities is not optional. It's a necessity,” said Rocio Garcia with the Grassroots Collaborative.

Two students addressed the rally by describing how the CTU Environmental Justice Freedom School, a yearly summer program for high school students, empowered them to organize for a just future. Together with other students and community members, they have taken the demand for fully-funded public schools to the Chicago Board of Education and the state capitol in Springfield.

“We want change and we will fight for it,” said one of the students.

The students were introduced by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who explained the policies of his administration by saying “we are centering the needs of young people and working people.”

Johnson touted record low crime rates and investments in schools, parks, and public libraries as evidence of the effectiveness of investing in communities. He added “when we talk about investing in communities, that money has to come from the ultra-rich.”

Stacy Davis Gates ended the night by calling to the history of the battle for public education. She recounted how Jitu Brown, who was in attendance, went from sleeping outside the Board of Education in protest to being an elected board member. She also linked the ongoing fight to save public education with the coalition of freed slaves and white abolitionists who built the first public education system in the South during Reconstruction.

“Our work is rooted in the spirit of Fred Hampton,” Gates declared. She spoke about the work CTU has done in building solidarity in Chicago and affirmed that this work would grow throughout Illinois during her tenure as president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

“We are going school to school, neighborhood to neighborhood, city to city and teaching people that the answer to their problems comes not from Democrats or Republicans, but from the solidarity of workers,” Gates proclaimed.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU #Teachers

Chicago, IL – On January 23, Chicagoans across the city targeted various Target locations to protest the corporation’s support for ICE terror.

The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) led and mobilized people to the Target in Hyde Park. This included members from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), Mexican Students de Aztlan (MeSA), U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Anti-War Committee Chicago (AWC) and more.

Outside the Target store in Hyde Park, Kobi Guillory, a member of CTU stated, “We are here in solidarity with our siblings in Minnesota who are right now 100K strong outside of the Target Center saying that Target should stop helping ICE. Target should stop its complicity with the violence that ICE is inflicting on Black and brown communities. Just the other day, Target employees in Minnesota were abducted by ICE in a Target. Did Target take a stand to defend their employees? Did they take a stand to defend the communities who make Target’s profits?”

Guillory continued, “We are demanding that Target honor the Fourth Amendment that you cannot be subject to unlawful search and seizure inside your workplace. This is illegal, what ICE is doing. We the people are going to use our people and we are going to force these corporations and elected officials to do the right thing.”

Inside the Target store, protesters delivered a list of demands to the store manager, including, “Call for an end to the ICE surge in Minnesota, and for ICE to leave the state; we want Target to affirm the Fourth Amendment; we want Target to post signage prohibiting ICE from entering their buildings, and we want Target to publicly call on congress to stop funding ICE.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #CATA #CTU #CAARPR #MESA #USPCN #AWCChicago

Chicago, IL – on Friday morning, January 23, nearly 100 people packed into Casa Michoacan for a press conference and rally. In solidarity with the broad coalition shutting down the Twin Cities that same day, speakers demanded the conviction of Jonathan Ross for murdering Renee Good, ICE out of Minnesota, and no more federal funding for ICE.

Speakers connected the crimes of ICE in Minnesota with the terror they have inflicted across the country, specifically mentioning the murders of Keith Porter Jr in Los Angeles and Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Franklin Park, IL.

“It’s about time that we recognize in our neighbors faces that we are part of one body of one nation. And if one of us is missing, then all of us are missing,” declared Marién Casillas-Pabellón, executive director of the West Suburban Action Project (PASO).

“Minnesota, we stand with you. We have cried with you, and we will not let the tears be the end of it. Because we have power.” Casillas-Pabellón added.

Like the actions in Minnesota, the press conference represented a wide coalition of organizations that fight for working and oppressed people. Representatives shared actions they would be taking to bring the demands to local elected officials and branches of corporations.

“Outrage alone does not change conditions. Organizing does,” said Genie Kastrup, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1.

Kobi Guillory, a middle school science teacher and executive board member of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), spoke about actions CTU, SEIU, and other organizations would be taking against Target that afternoon.

“Our siblings in the Minneapolis Federation of Educators are protesting Target for their complicity with ICE abductions in their stores. We will be out at ten different Targets around the city today,” Guillory explained. Target in particular is under fire after two Target employees were kidnapped from a Target store in Minnesota while the corporation refused to protect them.

“There’s power in this room and there’s power in the streets. We won’t stand idly by as they separate families,” affirmed Veronica Castro, Deputy Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). Castro and other speakers encouraged listeners to take action by joining organizations in preparation for further ICE escalation.

“If CBP tries to come in thousands then our response has to be just as organized, just as widespread, and just as ready,” said Any Huamani, immigration defense coordinator with Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.

Organizers affirmed their commitment to fight to abolish ICE, defeat the Trump agenda, and create a better world.

“We won’t let Trump take us back to 1850, nor will we go back to 2015. We will keep fighting until our children have the safe, just, fully funded communities they deserve,” Guillory proclaimed.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #Labor #CTU #SEIU #ICIRR #PASO #ReneeGood #AlexPretti

Chicago, IL – On December 20, over 175 people gathered in the Chicago Teachers Union Hall to stand in solidarity with Gustavo Petro and the people of Colombia as their country faces an intensification of U.S. aggression.

Petro has had his visa revoked by the Trump administration, and the country is seeing attacks in the form of sanctions, tariffs and military threats. These attacks have been because of his un-fearful stance against U.S. imperialism, from calling out the U.S./Israel’s genocide in Gaza to defending the sovereignty of Latin American nations. Petro is a popular and progressive internationalist.

In attendance were members of the Colombian consulate, progressive Chicago politicians, and leaders in the people's struggle, speaking on what Colombia needs from the people of Chicago.

Our solidarity must be concrete as well

“We must stand in solidarity with Gustavo Petro and the beautiful people of Colombia, as they have stood with Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, with forces fighting for climate and environmental justice, as they have stood with their neighbors in Venezuela who are in the crosshairs of the U.S. military,” said Hatem Abudayyeh from the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN).

Abudayyeh continued, “Together we will reject sanctions, threats, intervention and war against the people of Colombia.”

Daniel Garcia-Peña, the Colombian ambassador to the United States, spoke on the achievements that Colombia has made under the leadership of Petro. He also spoke of the need for solidarity with the nation during rising tensions. Peña stated, “We are very concerned about what is happening in the Caribbean. It’s a clear sign of how the U.S. is threatening not only Venezuela but all of Latin America, which continue to be seen as a backyard that can be trampled on.”

Garcia-Peña noted “But me and President Petro have been clear, times are different. Colombians and Latin Americans are not going to stand for interventionism as they may have happened in the past. We need each other's solidarity. Palestinians can count on Colombians, but we also need the world to stand with Colombians and our Latin American neighbors in these trying times.”

Speakers from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the Anti-War Committee (AWC) and the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) also spoke, representing the progressive movements which they work in.

Alderperson Byron Sicho-Lopez echoed the message of late Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton on the need for solidarity. Lopez introduced the resolution commemorating the historic 2024 visit of Petro to Chicago – a city that, much like Colombia, is a beacon of hope in the resistance against the reactionary Trump administration.

#ChicagoIL #IL #International #Colombia #AntiWarMovement #CAARPR #AWCChicago #CATA #CTU #Labor #Teachers

Chicago IL – 150 Chicagoans gathered downtown in the biting cold on Black Friday to say, “Tax the greed! Fund the need!” From a wide range of communities, they gathered to speak up for working and oppressed people. They stood united on a broad platform of demands including higher taxes on the rich, more funding for public services, and an end to Trump’s reactionary agenda.

“ICE has already taken far too many resources from our communities,” said Bassem Kawar with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. 

Kawar explained that although ICE employee Greg Bovino has left Chicago, the people still have to fight the ongoing ICE abductions. The 100 remaining ICE agents in the area continue to terrorize neighborhoods, especially in Republican-dominated DuPage County. Trump has threatened to increase the deployment to 1000 agents in March. The movement must prepare for the attacks to escalate in 2026.

“Trump and his cronies have already cut SNAP and Medicare to fund these attacks on our communities and we say that ain't right!” said Kawar.

The rally continued with a prayer by Reverend Juan Pablo Herrera to uplift “the courage of those who choose people over profit and liberation over exploitation.”

“In the Bible, God tells people to make a choice. You have to decide which side you are standing on,” added Reverend Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of Live Free Illinois. “You’re either on the side of justice or you're on the side of oppression.”

Bates-Chamberlain and other speakers called out corporations, including Target, Amazon and AT&T, that are standing on the side of oppression.

Will Tanzman, executive director of the People's Lobby, broke down the crimes abetted by AT&T’s $150 million contracts with federal agencies. He cited its support for ICE’s surveillance networks and Trump's “big ugly bill” which gives the corporation $8 billion in tax breaks.

“Corporations like AT&T and Amazon have willingly provided federal agencies like DHS with services that aid and abet the terror inflicted on our communities,” said Tomás Lobato, a special education teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).

Lobato also demanded that Chicago alderpersons take a stand. He called on elected officials to support Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget. Mayor Johnson aims to tax corporations instead of increasing property taxes and grocery taxes on working people.

Amaziah Burton, another CTU member, explained that her school alone stands to lose over half a million dollars and seven staff members if the budget does not pass. Burton cited the Protecting Chicago's Schools calculator, which predicts $552 million in budget cuts and 7724 layoffs if alderpersons vote against the budget.

Noura Ebrahim with the US Palestinian Community Network called on people to participate in the boycott, divestment, sanction campaign and demand that Illinois treasurer Michael Freirichs divest from Israeli bonds and companies complicit in the occupation and genocide in Palestine.

“The same companies profiting off occupation abroad are profiting off policing, deportation and surveillance at home,” Ebrahim said.

“The people's side abolishes chattel slavery. The people's side gives us the eight-hour workday and civil rights,” Brian Young Jr with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression linked the fight against the Trump agenda to the historical struggles of working and oppressed people: “We stand today on the people's side!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #CTU #ImmigrantRights #Trump #CAARPR

Springfield, IL – Four buses departed from the parking lot of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) headquarters at sunrise on Wednesday morning, October 29. They carried hundreds of educators, students and parents to the State Capitol in Springfield where they joined people from all over the state mobilized by the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT). All united to demand fully funded schools across the state.

“We have rank-and-file members from all over the state of Illinois,” IFT President Stacy Davis Gates said at a fiery press conference on the steps of the Capitol. “We have people here who are walking children back and forth from school because of ICE. We have people who spend more money on materials for the kids than their district does.”

Wednesday was the fifth day of the Illinois legislature's fall veto session. Unions and community organizations attended the veto session to demand funding for public education, transportation and healthcare, issues that legislators neglected in the spring session.

“The punchline is, we need to tax the rich,” Davis Gates continued. Other newly elected leaders of IFT and educators from across Illinois reiterated the need to make the rich pay for public services.

After the press conference, IFT members and allies flooded the building to get commitments from legislators to fight for fully-funded schools.

“Nothing is more important than making sure we're fully funded because we don't know what will happen by the end of the year,” Amaziah Burton, a special education teacher from Chicago, said after speaking to several state representatives who have not prioritized funds for education.

“Governor Pritzker’s kids will never know what it feels like to have no social worker and no books in the school. That's why he says there's no money,” Burton added. She then cited Trump's efforts to destroy public education, and the state's evidence based funding formula which says Illinois schools need over $3 billion more to be adequately funded.

“Illinois universities were already in a weakened state because of a lack of state funding and now we're under attack by the Trump admin. They're coming after diversity and inclusion programs and research grants and the system is already bare bones, so we have to get more support at the state level,” explained Aaron Krall, a UIC professor and the president of UIC United Faculty, a local of IFT. Krall and other IFT higher education members called on Pritzker to release $25 million currently being withheld from the state's universities.

“My group's main reason for being in Springfield is to promote the funding of transportation, but all our issues are connected,” said Lena Mackley, a member of the People's Lobby and a middle school teacher in the West Suburbs. “This country has all the money in the world, but we don't let it benefit our own communities. Instead, we give it to Israel.

“While American school unions protest their local governments for adequate funding, Israeli citizens enjoy free education at the expense of the American taxpayer. Even the special education programs in Palestine are struggling to support their special education population because American taxes fund the bombing of schools there instead of building up the schools here,” Mackley, who is Palestinian, explained the experience of teachers in her family in Palestine.

The buses drove back to Chicago as the sun went down. Educators and allies went home committed to building the fight against the Trump agenda and all state and local policies that steal from workers and give to billionaires.

#SpringfieldIL #IL #Labor #Teachers #IFT #CTU

Rosemont, IL – Hundreds of people marched in the No Kings protest on Saturday afternoon, October 18, near O’Hare International Airport. At the head of the column was the leadership of the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), including outgoing President Dan Montgomery and newly-elected President Stacy Davis Gates. Protesters demanded fully-funded public services and an end to Trump's federal invasion of Illinois.

The protest took place on the second day of the IFT convention. The delegates unanimously elected Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, as Illinois Federation of Teachers president. Delegates also elected an executive board representing locals all over the state. They also resolved to fight for full- funded schools and against the many attacks from the Trump administration against the people of Illinois.

Hundreds of teachers and school staff took their demands to the streets and united with hundreds more community members and attendees of other conventions. They marched down the usually quiet sidewalk and chanted “Donald Trump has got to go!” and “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!”

Drivers honked their horns and waved signs and flags in support. These demonstrators joined millions of people around the country in visible opposition to the Trump agenda.

“It's energizing to be here with fellow teachers and education workers from around the state,” said Haden Kersting, a high school teacher and IFT delegate. “There is a tremendous amount of unity here. Trump is attacking our rights as workers, and he is attacking the communities that we are a part of and serve. People are ready to fight against Trump and his accomplices.”

#RosemontIL #IL #Labor #NoKings #IFT #CTU #Teachers

Chicago, IL – 10,000 Chicagoans gathered at the West Loop Haymarket Memorial on Monday, September 1, for a “Workers over Billionaires” protest called by the Chicago Federation of Labor for a militant Labor Day demonstration.

The protest was a response to Trump’s sweeping attacks on working and oppressed people, with particular focus on his attacks on federal workers’ bargaining rights, Immigrant rights, and his threats to send federal troops into Chicago.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order attempting to strip collective bargaining rights from almost 1 million federal workers. In recent weeks, he has made consistent threats to send military forces into cities run by Black mayors, with particular malice toward Chicago’s mayor and the union city that elected him.

To open his remarks at the Labor Day protest, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fired up the crowd with chants of “No federal troops in the city of Chicago!” The mayor took a fighting stance with regards to Trump’s attacks on Chicago, describing his administration’s efforts to defend and invest in workers, especially Black and brown workers. Johnson spoke with pride about helping abolish the sub-minimum wage, ratify a transformative Chicago Teacher’s Union contract, and invest in affordable housing units on the South and West sides.

“We have stood up for the interests of workers before and we will do it again Johnson said. “We will always be a labor town.”

Johnson’s emphasis on the role of unions and working class people in mobilizing against Trump’s attacks to come was clear. “I need you all to stand firm and stand strong,” he said.

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis-Gates matched Johnson’s words, stating, “In Chicago, we reject a billionaire’s tyranny in our city,” she said. “Solidarity is the antidote to white supremacy. Solidarity is the antidote to anti-immigrant fever. Solidarity is the antidote to transphobia and homophobia.”

“It is because of unions that there are no children who are working underage, and because of unions that we have health benefits, sick leave and vacation time,” said Reverend Jamal Bryant, a senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. He called for labor forces to fight back once again. “There are more labor workers than there are billionaires.”

After the initial program at the Haymarket Monument, the protesters began marching west, chanting and holding signs promoting workers’ and Immigrants’ rights, and opposing Trump and his threats to send in troops to Chicago.

First stop: Workers over billionaires!

The march stopped at the corner of Fulton and Sangamon, outside the offices of Valor Equity Partners, a company founded by Chicago billionaire Antonio Gracias.

Toni Frazier, a childcare professional and SEIUHCII member, has worked in childcare for more than 34 years. She called out Gracias for not only hoarding billions off the backs of workers but also working with Musk to cut Social Security. These attacks hit close to home for Frazier, whose granddaughter needs special services for autism and whose niece is disabled and struggles to access healthcare. “We are here to take care of those who need help the most,” Frazier said. “That ain’t the billionaires.”

Second stop: Boycott Target!

The march reached its second stop outside a Target store, where Reverend Bryant spoke about the nationwide boycott against the corporation since it ended its DEI programs and goals early this year. The campaign’s efforts have seen Target’s stock drop by $52 per share and the CEO’s salary cut by 42% since the start of the boycott.

Bryant attributed the campaign’s progress to the same unity that helped build the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the Civil Rights movement. Labor unions, teachers and faith leaders all have to work together, he said. “Don’t let nobody turn us around!”

Final stop: We must defeat Trump in the streets!

John Miller, local president of University Professionals of Illinois Local 41 and a member of the American Association of University Professionals, called out the cruel disinvestment in education and all aspects of society orchestrated by Trump and the billionaire ruling class, including Governor Pritzker. Miller emphasized the need for an organized, militant response from the movement.

“All of higher education is under attack,” Miller said. “We’ve filed lawsuits, but we must defeat [Trump] in the streets.”

“We can play defense, or we can go on offense,” said Nico Coronado, chief negotiator for Teamsters 705 in their fight with Mauser. Over 100 members have been on strike since June 9. They are demanding better wages, workplace quality standards as well as protections from immigration enforcement. “We need to organize to bring in more members and have more militancy.”

No Trump, no troops!

In the coming days, an illegal military occupation of communities may come to Chicago as ordered by Donald Trump. The National Guard is being deployed, like in Washington DC, to continue the attacks on working and oppressed people, under the guise of fighting crime.

Chicagoans, in particular Black people and immigrants, have an inalienable democratic right to resist through whatever means of resistance needed. The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) is ready to mobilize as soon as troops hit the ground. Follow CATA on social media at coalitionagainsttrumpagenda.org

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #Labor #Trump #ImmigrantRights #CATA #AFLCIO #SEIU #CTU

Chicago, IL – The South Side celebrated the last days of summer at the 96th Bud Billiken parade on Saturday, August 9. The Bud Billiken is the largest African American parade in the country. Young people received school supplies while dancers and musicians showed off their skills. Some organizations also raised political demands such as community control of police, fully funded public services, and progressive taxation.

200 school staff, students and parents marched with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). They wore shirts that read “Fully fund schools, tax the rich” and passed out school supplies.

The CTU contingent was led by their president, Stacy Davis Gates, who was an honorary marshal in the parade. As they saw her pass, some community members shouted, “We’re with you, Stacy!” and “Keep up the fight!”

“Being out here with the people lets you know you're on the right path,” Davis Gates said after the parade.

“It's the longest running Black parade in the world,” said Patricia Williams, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). “With all that history we had to be out here. And people said, ‘We love what you're doing’ and ‘Keep up the good work.’ A lot of people wanted to volunteer.”

Williams and other CAARPR members were canvassing for the Community Power Over Policing (CPOP) referendum, which would strengthen the police accountability legislation won by the movement in 2021. They also gathered petitions demanding that Governor JB Pritzker sign clemency petitions for survivors of police torture.

“We ought to be able to get this referendum passed with all the support people showed today,” Williams said.

As parents, youth and teachers prepare for the beginning of the school year, organizers continue to build the fight for a better future.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #CTU #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #CAARPR #NAARPR