The November 3rd blue wave that swept the country isn’t the main headline in Chicago’s elections.

The theme of activists opposing the Trump agenda in a number of battleground states has been “working people versus billionaires.” In Michigan and elsewhere, the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) also made headlines for spending tens of millions of dollars trying to stop the election to Congress and the Senate of any candidates opposed to the genocide in Gaza and the disastrous war on Iran.

But in Chicago’s first-ever all-elected school board elections, also held November 3, the AIPAC and billionaire-backed candidates were Democrats. Their target here is the movement that brought Mayor Brandon Johnson to office.

Since 2010, there has been an insurgent movement rooted in Black and Latino working-class communities, with significant leadership coming from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).

The outcome of the election has been extremely close. Out of 20 seats on the board, nine out of 14 candidates endorsed by CTU won, with a tenth candidate in the lead with counting almost over. Most school board members elected seem to want to fully-fund schools to provide good education and all the features that a family thinks of when they think of schools: libraries and librarians, nurses and counselors, art, music, after-school programs, and nutritious meals.

Why do the rich care about who leads the public schools?

The children of billionaires don’t go to the Chicago Public Schools. What the billionaires want is to make money from education. The privatized model of charter schools boomed in Chicago starting in the 1990s and resulted in the closing of 50 schools in Black and Latino communities. Today, there are 150 schools that are threatened by the privatizers because enrollment is around half their capacity. This disinvestment contributed to Chicago losing more than 10% of its population – 340,000 residents – during the years that Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot were mayors.

The main target for negative ads paid for by the billionaires was Hilario Dominguez, candidate for school board president. Dominguez is a special education teacher and union organizer.

One statistic cited by CTU President Stacy Davis Gates shows the extent the ruling class went to try to elect candidates beholden to them, “A seat on the Chicago Board of Education is an unpaid position. Billionaires spent a million dollars a week trying to buy it.”

The movement has to now turn to re-electing Mayor Johnson; to elect city council candidates aligned with the progressive agenda Johnson has put forward; and candidates for Chicago’s first-in-the-country civilian police district councilors to hold the infamous Chicago Police Department accountable.

When Johnson announced his campaign for re-election in October, his slogan was, “We can't go backward!” He spoke of the candidates looking to unseat him by saying they look to, “close schools and militarize our streets.”

He linked together the struggle for good schools and police accountability, and, of course, Chicago’s Black and Latino communities, which have long fought for both.

Frank Chapman is the field organizer and education director of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. He is also a prominent supporter of Mayor Johnson. Responding to the outcome of the school board elections and millions of dollars being spent to stop the movement, Chapman said, “What’s the task of our movement? We have to hit the streets for the police district councilors and to re-elect Brandon Johnson.”

Chapman continued, “We can’t match their money. We need feet in the street – volunteers for a ground game to get our message to the people in these oppressed and occupied communities.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #Education #SchoolBoard #Elections #BrandonJohnson #CTU

Chicago, IL – About 100 Chicagoans rallied at a press conference and picketed the Federal Plaza on Wednesday, October 28 to demand an end to the genocidal U.S. blockade on Cuba. Earlier that day, the U.N. General Assembly voted for the 34th time to condemn the economic embargo unilaterally imposed by the U.S. government as a violation of international law. 130 countries supported the resolution, while 17 countries – led by the U.S. and Israel – opposed.

A founding member of Cuban Americans for Cuba said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “is trying to make life unlivable in Cuba while preventing people from coming here; effectively trying to orchestrate a pressure-cooker situation to force an uprising and gain control of Cuba.”

“We won’t stand for it,” she said. “Rubio does not speak for us. Collective punishment is a war crime, and our families are not collateral.” Her words received applause and were followed by chants of “¡Cuba sí, bloqueo no!” and “ICE out!”

The rally, which was endorsed by over 25 faith, labor and social justice organizations, was organized by the Chicago Cuba Coalition and Venceremos Brigade in response to escalating aggression against Cuba and worsening conditions on the island. In January 2026, the United States government imposed a total energy blockade on Cuba, threatening any country that supplied the island with oil.

U.S. Congressman Jonthan L. Jackson, who represents the First Congressional District in Illinois, described his experience traveling to Cuba on a fact-finding mission in April. He said, “When I went into the maternity ward, I saw little babies with low birthweights who needed an incubator, but the incubators were blown out because they have power surges. I saw women in their last trimester not being able to use an elevator and not being able to have any air conditioning. I saw shortages of food.”

The congressman called for Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to be impeached, saying “what [Hegseth] is doing in the Caribbean is illegal: ‘tapping’ on boats, killing people. Those are military bombs hitting civilian boats. It’s simply wrong, and they’re doing it in our name, with our tax dollars.”

Vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Jackson Potter, asked the crowd of protesters, “What if we funded our schools at home and fed our children here in this country instead of bombing them abroad or blockading them?”

25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who represents immigrant communities in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, also condemned Marco Rubio for calling on Cubans to collaborate with the CIA to overthrow their government. He stated that Cubans, “don’t want to go back to the times of dictatorships like Batista – when Cubans were treated as pawns in their own country for casinos and corporations to gain.”

“We see actual terrorism and interventions throughout Latin America that are spreading terror, war, starvation, and chaos in the name of ‘democracy,’” the alderman said.

Kobi Guillory, a leader of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, closed out the press conference with the chant made famous by Black liberationist Assata Shakur, who passed away as a free woman in Cuba last year. “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” He added this important reminder to the end of the chant: “And we have a world to win!”

After the press conference, protesters picketed and chanted in front of the federal building.

Bystanders reacted by stopping to read banners, take photos, and ask questions.

Organizers called on protesters to be prepared to mobilize in the event the U.S. attacks Cuba and to join the No War on Cuba campaign. Organization can join the National Network on Cuba at their annual meeting in Portland, November 20-22 to help build an anti-imperialist Cuba-solidarity movement inside the belly of the beast. You can also see the conditions in Cuba for yourself by visiting the island with a legally licensed solidarity delegation, like the Venceremos Brigade.

“We have to tell our brothers, sisters, and siblings throughout the country what is truly going on, not only in Cuba, but throughout Latin America and the American continent,” said Alderman Sigcho-Lopez.

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Cuba #NoWarOnCuba #CubaBlockade

Chicago, IL – The Leighton Courthouse in Chicago, known by most people as simply “26th and California,” is the court that handles most of Cook County’s felony cases. On October 29, a dramatic hearing took place in Courtroom 304, involving a 35-year-old case of a man tortured into a confession by a police detective from the Jon Burge gang of cops.

In 1991, 15-year-old Johnny Plummer was picked up as a suspect in a murder, taken to the Chicago Police Area Three Detective Division, and questioned for a day and a half without being allowed to see his mother. Beaten around the face and stomach, he confessed to a crime he didn’t commit. He is now 50 years old, having spent 35 years behind bars.

Plummer has always maintained he was tortured by Detectives Kenneth Boudreau and Michael Kill. For many years, he has spoken about a doctor who did an intake interview with him when he was brought to the Audy Juvenile home. The doctor then wrote Johnny’s report in his notes.

The Chicago police and the state’s attorney’s office had claimed for 35 years that no such notes existed. Plummer’s legal team, including Karl Leonard of the Exoneration Project, now have reason for optimism. In April, those medical examiner’s notes were sent to the Exoneration Project lawyers from the State’s Attorney’s Office.

Judge Tyria Walton deemed the evidence significant enough to grant a post-conviction evidentiary hearing. 

Where were those intake notes?

October 29 was the fourth hearing, and the main witness was attorney Joey Mogul. Mogul represented Plummer from 2012 to 2021. She is well known as a relentless fighter for the torture survivors from the era of the Jon Burge ring of racist CPD detectives.

Attorney Leonard questioned Mogul on the stand about her extensive experience with the materials in Plummer’s case. He asked her about files gained in the ten years she represented Plummer.

Mogul testified that when she started to represent Plummer, the presiding judge, Vincent Gaughan, had granted a petition to provide materials from the public defender’s office; from the first special prosecutors, Egan and Boyle; and the common law documents or transcripts from any proceedings Plummer had been in.

The medical notes weren’t to be found in any of those files. She never saw those notes until April 2026.

How significant are the medical records?

Mogul explained that, as a result, for years it was just Plummer’s word against the police.

Leonard asked about the significance that 15-year-old Johnny was interrogated on August 18 and 19 and then spoke to the doctor on August 22. 

Mogul replied, “Johnny was interrogated August 18 and 19, and then he was interviewed by the physician on August 22 , only three days later. This was prompt outcry evidence! This would have been huge had it been available.”

Leonard said, “If you had it?” And Mogul replied, “We would have cited it and attached it in a post-conviction appeal.”

Prompt outcry evidence refers to the first report made by a victim to another person shortly after the incident occurred.

Prosecution’s fear of a Brady Ruling

Special Prosecutor Myles O’Rourke then spent an equal amount of time asking questions about the proceedings in which Mogul defended Plummer, as well as those before Mogul became Plummer’s attorney. 

Attorney Leonard objected repeatedly to the questioning, for example when O’Rourke asked Mogul for her recollection of an 89-page document on torture that had been submitted almost a decade ago.

The judge overruled Leonard multiple times, finally remarking to the court, “We know it’s because of the potential Brady ruling that the state is using this line of questioning.”

A Brady violation is when prosecutors fail to disclose impeaching evidence to the defense. If the court finds there was a Brady violation, it could result in awarding Plummer a new trial, or even the overturning of his conviction.

Defenders of torture cops facing multiple defeats

Seeing Johnny Plummer walk free would be a blow to Boudreau and the other Burge-era torturers, but there’s a broader crisis for the criminals in the Chicago Police Department.

Under the leadership of Mayor Brandon Johnson, on October 14, the Chicago City Council unanimously approved a $260 million settlement for 17 men who were wrongfully convicted by former Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara. Many of these cases have been covered for decades in the pages of Fight Back!, including Johnny Flores, Juan and Rosendo Hernandez, and Edwin Ortiz.

There has been a wave of protests led by the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) to end the practice of CPD collaboration with ICE agents since Trump launched his Midway Blitz in 2025.

Most recently, CAARPR’s Labor Committee has said that the Cook County Board of Commissioners should stop payment for special prosecutor O’Rourke’s firm for defending the Burge-era torture cops. Research by attorneys from the Exoneration Project has found that over $11 million has been paid to O’Rourke’s firm in the past 17 years to defend the likes of Boudreau.

Finally, Jasmine Smith, head of CAARPR’s Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST), said, “We are also continuing our fight to get Governor Pritzker to grant clemency to the hundreds of proven survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction who are still incarcerated in Illinois.”

“We want justice for all the wrongfully convicted!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #JohnnyPlummer #InjusticeSystem #WrongfulConviction #PoliceTorture #CFIST #CAARPR #Featured

Chicago, IL – On October 14, over 50 Chicagoans gathered at Casa Michoacan in the Pilsen neighborhood for a town hall meeting on the ongoing campaign to end collaborations between the Chicago Police Department and federal agents. This town hall, organized by the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC of CAARPR), served as both a celebration of the progress that has been made on the campaign and as an open discussion of how to move forward.

This town hall comes after a recent victory in the IRWC’s campaign. After a year of pressure and mobilization at the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability’s (CCPSA , the city’s police accountability board) monthly meetings, a resolution was passed by the commission to hold special quarterly hearings regarding how CPD implements and enforces the Welcoming City Ordinance. This win signifies a new phase in this campaign.

Louise Carhart opened up the discussion addressing the basis to the campaign, stating, “A lot of people were very upset because they had seen their communities torn apart by ICE in the preceding months, and had seen very little action on any CPD collaborations that had taken place.”

She continued, “The CCPSA would be where that accountability starts, given their position at the top of the accountability bureau in Chicago. After that, there wasn’t a lot of follow up from the CCPSA, despite repeated community outcry about this issue, despite increasing reports of CPD and ICE collaboration.”

Omar Flores, a leading member of the IRWC, and someone who has been on the ground to document police collaboration, talked about how CPD escalated confrontations between federal agents and community members.

Flores stated, “A lot of CPD’s justifications to how they respond to these situations and why they do ‘crowd control’ is because they say they’re there to calm the situation. But any of us who have been in the movement for any amount of time, or even just in communities that police tend to arrest, know that they are not de-escalators. They are escalators, that is their whole goal. To go in there and make the situation worse.”

A member of Pilsen Unidos por Nuestro Orgullo (PUNO) spoke up during the discussion, “We have seen in the last month or so instances where there have been known ICE vehicles in police-only areas. This is something that we also will have to go to the CCPSA and COPA [Civilian Office for Police Accountability] you know, to raise the alarm.” They referred to instances where ICE agents have used CPD parking lots as staging grounds for raids.

Investigations into these events are currently underway, and the struggle against police collaboration is growing across the city. It has become a major criteria to the selection of the next Chicago Police Department superintendent. The campaign is far from over, and the IRWC is ready to mobilize for meetings and to the streets.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #CPD #OppressedNationalities

Chicago, IL – The South Side office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) was filled by allied organizations, Saturday, October 17, in a day of campaign work for the November 3 elections.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), an affiliate of CAARPR, mobilized over 30 working-class and youth activists – Black, Latino, Arab, Asian and white – to put feet in the streets for progressive candidates in the November 3 election.

Altogether, 50 canvassers from various struggles and parts of the city joined forces to fight for two champions of workers and oppressed people – Hilario Dominguez and Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Hilario Dominguez is running for school board president. A special education teacher with ten years of experience working in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Dominguez is a member of the community he seeks to serve.

Dominguez faces off against billionaire-backed candidates who support school closures and abandoning Chicago’s children, all to line the pockets of private interests. Chicagoans have first-hand experience of fighting the racist, neoliberal tactics of divestment in neighborhood schools that reached its apex under former mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mayor 1%, as he was known, notoriously shuttered 50 schools during his two terms. 80% of those schools were in Black communities.

Emanuel’s other legacy was the cover-up of the heinous murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, a CPS student with disabilities that was shot 16 times by Chicago police.

The fight against school closures is an historic struggle of Black and Latino working-class communities. Around these elections, there is a mass mobilization led by teachers and parents to support Dominguez and a slate that includes leading figures from the Black and Chicano/Mexicano movements: Jitu Brown and Rev. Emma Lozano, two legendary community organizers.

Rally with the mayor: The main event

Mayor Brandon Johnson, the first mayor since Harold Washington who was not handpicked by the ruling class, has a history of standing with Black and Latino working-class neighbors against school closures. As a former CPS teacher himself, Mayor Johnson has fought to reverse the racist disinvestment in the South and West Sides through historic levels of funding in housing, youth jobs, public schools and mental health centers. Johnson represents the African American national struggle for political power in Chicago, and has stood firm with immigrant communities against the Trump administration’s racist deportation attacks.

When canvassers returned from several hours “on the doors” in Woodlawn, Englewood and other nearby communities, they were greeted by the mayor. The message from the billionaires and their coat carriers among the city council and the press is that Johnson can’t win. Almost all the canvassers were youth – high school or college age. They greeted Johnson with cheers of “Four more years!”

Johnson informed the crowd that, under his leadership, Chicago saw a reduction in crime rates to levels not seen since 1965 – over 60 years ago. He also pointed out that while his administration had created 20,000 youth jobs over the summer, over 50,000 children had applied, and he would keep fighting during his second term until every student who wanted a summer job could get one.

20th Ward Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor co-hosted the rally with Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance. Together with Jitu Brown, Ald. Taylor is famous for leading a successful hunger strike in 2015 against Emmanuel’s attempt to close Dyett High School. She reminded the crowd that Johnson served the people, not corporate-backed interests. Taylor preached unity of the many to fight back against the greed of the few and confided in the crowd that every time she saw Mayor Johnson occupying his spot at City Hall, she saw a community member who knew what it was like to face economic hardship living on Chicago’s South and West Sides.

Elections: A front of struggle

Joe Iosbaker of FRSO introduced Ald. Taylor. He recalled the CAARPR-led struggle for community control of the Chicago police, and Taylor’s history of fighting for community control of public schools.

In Chicago history, we have the legacy of Harold Washington’s campaign for mayor in 1983, with Rudy Lozano running for city council with Washington’s support to be his vice mayor. Chicago gave the country Jesse Jackson’s historic runs for president in 1984 and 1988, which also represented the Black liberation movement taking an electoral form.

From Harold and Rudy in the 1980s, to Brandon Johnson today, FRSO has long understood that while most elections in the U.S. are between two parties of monopoly capitalism, the national liberation movements can take electoral forms. When they do, revolutionaries have to get behind them and push.

The billionaire class and their racist and Zionist proxies are spending tens of millions of dollars for their handpicked tools – Jessica Biggs for president of the School Board, and Alexi Giannoulias for mayor – to defeat our movement and remove Brandon Johnson from the Fifth Floor of Chicago City Hall.

Chicago is ready for the fight.

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #Elections #SchoolBoard #BrandonJohnson

Chicago, IL – In the early hours of Monday morning, October 19, Cook County College Teachers Union Local 1600 (CCCTU) announced a tentative agreement on a contract for staff and faculty at City Colleges of Chicago, after months of bargaining. After negotiations finally concluded around 4 a.m., CCCTU President Tony Johnston declared, “I am proud of our negotiating teams, of our members who were prepared to strike, and of this contract.”

Workers were scheduled to go on strike starting Monday, and it was this threat that made the administration stop dragging out negotiations. CCCTU leadership will now bring the proposal to their membership to vote to ratify, and then it will have to be approved by the City Colleges Board of Trustees. The union has kept a strike on the table through the whole bargaining process, and they aren’t backing down from that until the contract is ratified.

Rank-and-file CCCTU member Chanel Crittenden said that City Colleges administration started the bargaining process from an insincere position. City Colleges’ negotiation team included corporate-backed union-busting lawyers and offered a miniscule annual wage increase that fell well below inflation. Crittenden highlighted the hostile attitude of the administration, saying, “CCCTU dominated the last contract negotiations, and it seemed like City Colleges of Chicago wanted to revoke some of those wins.”

CCCTU, on the other hand, was looking out for its members and students in their newest contract. The union demanded a dignified wage increase that would actually keep up with inflation. They also called for more oversight on the use of AI in the classroom. Crittenden explained that employees at the City Colleges saw that administration was making moves to replace the highly personal language skills of bilingual workers with deeply flawed AI translation programs.

The union also fought to reduce the financial burden for their overwhelmingly working-class and low-income Black and brown students. The agreement included a task force to explore making introductory developmental courses free for the majority Black and brown and working-class student body. CCCTU argued that their students shouldn’t have to use up their hard-earned financial aid before they can even start taking courses in their degree program.

CCCTU boldly threatened to strike from the very start of negotiations to show the administration they were serious about meeting the needs of their members and students. Members voted 91% in favor of authorizing a strike in September, and Crittenden stated, “leading up to the strike vote, members were setting up information tables on campus and holding practice pickets.”

Solidarity was the name of the game in the last few weeks of the bargaining process.

Crittenden stated, “I was feeling energized while preparing for the strike. It's been a roller coaster; it's been a lot of energy but also anxiety. You want to make sure you can be there for your family, your friends, and your community. I was really grateful to everybody who showed up and showed a strong sense of solidarity.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #ChicagoCityColleges #CCCTU

Chicago, IL – On October 15, students mobilized to the University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) University Hall to deliver an open letter demanding an end to UIC’s “open expression” form and a stop to the university’s restrictions on free speech for student organizations. The protest was put on by Students for a Democratic Society at UIC (SDS) as a part of the SDS’ National Day of Action and to fight back against recent attacks on progressive student organizations.

The “open expression” form requires UIC students to fill out paperwork through the dean of students when rallying or speaking out on campus.

“The administration thinks this university belongs to them but it doesn't. It belongs to the students! it belongs to the workers! To the community! To the people!” said Sanele Stewart, a member of SDS. Stewart continued, “The students of the past had to fight to make this university what it is now, and we aren't just going to fight to protect those victories, but to win new ones!”

“We should not have to fear consequences for peacefully challenging decisions made by those in power,” said Maria Perez of Mexican Students de Aztlan

Amir Hartt, a member of SDS and Students for Justice in Palestine at UIC (SJP), told the crowd, “If we face enough constant obstacles, admin thinks that we’ll either give up our organizing, scale it down, or something else that’ll shut us up for the semester. Our campaigns at their core are hostile to admin. Divestment from genocide is hostile to admin, it makes their investments into child-killing devices a sunken cost.”

In its open letter, SDS at UIC wrote: “We demand an end to the so-called Open Expression Policy, which has repeatedly been used by UIC to restrict the speech of political student organizations on campus. In particular we want an end to the policy of prior registration and administrative approval for free speech and assembly.” The letter also states: “We wonder what the point of being a registered student organization is if it only means handing over personal contact information which is then used by administration to discourage students from being active on campus?”

After hearing speeches from SDS and MeSA, the students headed inside University Hall to deliver their open letter to university administration, specifically UIC Chancellor Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda.

While the group of students planned on taking the University Hall elevator to the 28th floor and delivering their letter, administrators from UIC’s dean of students, without reason, told the students that they could not take the elevator up. The students pushed back against this, and, after negotiating, two students took the elevator up to Chancellor Miranda’s office and delivered the letter, not to the Chancellor herself, but to Elizabeth Fulmer from the chancellor’s office.

Students for a Democratic Society at UIC and their allies were able to successfully deliver their letter, but the students are not planning on giving up the pressure. Keep an eye on @sdsatuic on Instagram for more updates.

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #SDS #MeSA #Feature

Chicago, IL – On October 9, members of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and Anti-War Committee – Chicago (AWC) successfully disrupted the performance of racist, Zionist Jerry Seinfeld at the Chicago Theatre.

Both organizations have targeted Seinfeld to ensure that there can be no business as usual ever since the U.S.-supported Israeli genocide exposed him as a racist, genocide apologist who proudly supports Israel’s war crimes against Palestine.

Six protesters disrupted Seinfeld’s show at different points by standing up and shouting that he was a “genocide apologist” and “a racist” for supporting the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The genocide is financed by U.S. taxpayer funds and over 74,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel, including over 22,000 children, while independent mortality research indicates that the true death toll is significantly higher. Despite the so-called ceasefires, Israel continues to bomb Gaza, as well as Lebanon, and intensify ethnic cleansing and apartheid in the occupied West Bank.

Seinfeld’s Zionist supporters responded to the protesters with hostility, threats and physical violence. One supporter threw her drink at a protester and scratched her in an attempt to seize her phone until the protesters’ hands were bleeding from several places. Another tried to charge a protester until she had to be physically restrained to stop. Fans screamed at the protesters, called them slurs, and demanded that they be removed and violently beaten.

The Chicago Theatre’s security followed suit by brutally dragging out the protesters. Security pushed one directly into the seats, causing her to fall and be injured. They threw another protester against a wall despite her already being removed from the performance hall. While being dragged out, protesters chanted, “Jerry Seinfeld, you will see, Palestine will be free!”

Seinfeld danced and joked about genocide, saying, “it is a genocide and I’m into it” and that he would send money from their ticket sales to Israel.

“Shame on the Chicago Theatre for violently removing and banning organizers from returning to their theatre for protesting against a racist, Zionist, pedophile who publicly supports genocide,” said Elinor Keener with AWC. “Israel’s cheerleader Jerry Seinfeld has used his platform to support the Zionist and genocidal state of Israel, and even stated that he prefers Ku Klux Klan members to pro-Palestinian activists and those who say, ‘free Palestine.’”

Seinfeld has stated that he “doesn’t care about Palestinians,” regularly visits Israel, publicly expressed support for the Israeli military, and is often seen pictured with IOF soldiers. Seinfeld and his family visited a military-style training facility in the occupied West Bank, where they participated in shooting exercises and watched combat demonstrations at a facility offering simulated attacks depicting Palestinians as targets. His wife has also donated thousands of dollars to pro-Israel counter-protests at UCLA.

“With the Chicagoland area being the home of the largest Palestinian community in the United States, and Chicago being the only major large city to pass a ceasefire resolution, we reject the normalization of genocide and all who defend it,” said Nazek Sankari with USPCN. “Friday's disruption sent a clear message: Those who defend Israel's genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and throughout Palestine will be met with protest and are not welcome on Chicago's stages without opposition.”

Video of the disruption, made by USPCN, has gone viral, demonstrating that the world stands with Palestine in its just struggle against the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide and decades of brutal ethnic cleansing, occupation, and apartheid.

You can watch clips of the disruptions here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeS3ODutSlb/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeWzmghR1pw/?psln=MWtvbWE4bTNwNXp4dQ==

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1M7F5z8XgT/?mibextid=wwXIfr

RECAP: USPCN-CHICAGO & AWC DISRUPT JERRY SEINFELD AT THE CHICAGO THEATRE!

On Friday, 10/9, USPCN-Chi & @AntiWarChicago disrupted the performance of racist, genocidal zionist @JerrySeinfeld at the @ChicagoTheatre over his support for Israel & the U.S.-backed genocide in #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/BTZqSjQlej

— U.S. Palestinian Community Network (@uspcn) October 11, 2026

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Seinfeld #USPCN

Chicago, IL – Over 50 students and community members mobilized at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Wednesday, October 7 to demand a free Palestine. The protest, organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UIC, marked three years of Israel's genocide against the Palestinians and 78 years since the Nakba. After the program, students marched through campus chanting.

Speakers connected the struggle for Palestinian liberation to the violence of the U.S. to its own people and the struggle against imperialism globally.

“It has been 78 years since the Nakba, the violent and mass displacement of the Palestinian people all in the name of Zionism. Yet the rabid attack dog known as Israel was not satisfied with their brutality and are now at three years of genocide towards the Palestinian people,” said Dani Espinoza of New SDS.

Sarah Ahmad a member of SJP said, “The ruling class, who has authorized a $21.7 billion payment abroad to Israel since October 2023 and ignored all domestic calls for humanitarian relief, does not act in the interests of justice or humanity – they act in the interests of imperialism, colonialism and capitalism.” Ahmad continued, “But it is the people who have the power to transform society. It is the people, organized in solidarity, who can tear down these systems of oppression and build something new, something just, and something free.”

Ángel Naranjos, reading a statement from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “It is right to rebel and the struggle continues now. We demand an immediate and total end to all U.S. aid to the apartheid state of Israel, the right of return for all Palestinian refugees, and the release of political prisoners.”

Naranjos continued “Of course, October 7 did not happen in a vacuum, but was the legitimate and righteous response to 75 years of ethnic cleansing, of Nakba, of the daily reality of occupation in the form of military violence, land and water theft, demolition of homes, of people trapped under apartheid.”

Rania Salem of the U.S Palestinian Community Network said, “They do not want us speaking on Palestine, they don't want us educating and mobilizing the masses, they do not want us unifying together under one powerful movement that works and fights together. They do not want the students organizing against their institutions in support of Palestine; they fear our movement, because they know that we are winning.”

Graeme Eble, a member of New SDS, said, “So we stand here today as students and community members to continue to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. The U of I system is still invested in genocide. We must show our administration that the students will never back down. We will not be silent in face of genocide, and we will always demand the liberation of the Palestinian people.

Valeria Muñoz Gonzalez of MeSA said, “Our state Illinois invests millions into Israeli bombs, which is investment into a genocide. Instead of investing in the genocide, our government officials in Illinois could choose to invest within our communities. That's right. We must continue to call for UIC and Illinois to divest. We must call for the liberation of Palestinian people for the liberation for all.”

Gonzalez continued, “What's happening in Palestine isn't far from our country. The same violence being unleashed on Palestinians is taught to the FBI, CIA, and ICE in trainings in which the U.S. and Israel collaborate with. That's right. These trainings teach tactics of police violence, mass surveillance, racial profiling, and suppression of descent from protesters. U.S. law enforcement has participated in exchange programs to learn from the violence the IOF uses on Palestinians to unleash in our brown and Black communities. The killings committed by ICE are connected to the IOF senseless killings of Palestine.”

The crowd chanted things like “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

The protest was organized by SDS and SJP in response to UIC's continued complicity in the genocide being committed by Isreal and the United States against the Palestinian people. A few of UIC’s acts of complicity include inviting an Israeli ambassador to campus, organizing a study abroad trip to Israel, and leaking the names of SJP members to the Israeli government.

Endorsing organizations include US Palestinian Community Network, Anti-War Community Chicago, SJP, Anakbayan UIC, JSC, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Latinos Unidos, Sanctuary for all, Housing Staff United, Mexican Students De Aztlán.

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #SDS #SJP

Chicago, IL – On Monday, September 28, about 60 activists gathered outside the Bilandic Building to protest at the quarterly Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI) meeting. Protesters, some of whom traveled from as far as central Illinois, called on the ISBI vice-chair, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, to divest from Israel Bonds, and called for ISBI to continue divestment from companies complicit in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians and ICE attacks on immigrants. 

Nick Sous with the US Palestinian Community Network began his speech by leading the crowd through a chant: “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes!”

Sous stated, “We’ve been out here two years calling on Michael Frerichs to grow a spine, calling on Michael Frerichs to take a stand, and divest from Israel Bonds. Yet every step of the way, he continues to maintain his complicity in the genocide.” 

Yusuf Masood of Anti-War Committee-Chicago said, “Today this network of 80 plus organizations and especially the working people of Illinois have a special and important demand for Michael Frerichs, to let the November Israel bond worth $20 million expire and do not renew it. The people, your constituents, do not want to renew investments in genocide.” 

Proceeds from the sale of Israel Bonds are transferred to Israel without humanitarian restrictions of any kind, meaning Israel can and has been using these investments to finance its genocide. 

Hugo Gebner, with Casa DuPage, a group organizing immigrant workers in the western Suburbs, connected the fight against U.S. imperialism with the struggle for immigrant rights: “Our main threat right now is ICE, and we are here today to make it clear that our organization understands ICE’s human trafficking is facilitated by the Illinois State Board of Investment.” 

Twenty people were allowed to enter the meeting to observe or provide public comment. All seven of the activists who spoke to the board condemned ISBI’s investments in companies like Palantir, L3Harris, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman. Several speakers also called directly on ISBI Vice-Chair Michael Frerichs, who was notably absent, to divest from all Israel Bonds. 

Kayla Nguyen with the Immigrant Rights Working Committee, said: “The blood and suffering of Black and brown people here in Chicago, in Illinois, cannot be separated from the genocide in Palestine. The weapons militarized police forces deploy on our streets and against our communities are the same ones they're testing on the ground in Palestine today. ISBI invests millions and millions of Illinois tax dollars into companies that, in turn, contract with ICE and DHS and Israel.” 

Simon Huffman-Gottschling, a library worker and member of 73 for Palestine, reflected on ISBI investing public workers’ pensions into these companies. He stated to the ISBI board: “The people of Illinois and the public workers will remember that when given not only the option, but the incentive to stop kidnapping your own constituents, funding genocide, and killing children, you decided to keep going.” 

Instead of addressing the concerns of the taxpayers and workers they represent, ISBI has escalated their repression of the public in the past year by packing the room with Illinois State Police, bringing police dogs, threatening to arrest each pro-Palestine member of the public upon them entering the building, planting career Zionists in public comment, and even creating a physical barrier by arranging tables between themselves and the public commenters. 

Readers who live in Illinois can sign the petition calling on ISBI and Frerichs to divest from genocide and ICE. If you are part of an organization that wants to endorse the campaign, you can sign this letter to do so. If you are outside Illinois, you can join an Anti-War Action Network member organization and research your state’s investments into complicit companies.

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #AWCChicago

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday, September 23, hundreds of people gathered at the Rafael Cintrón Ortiz Latino Cultural Center (LCC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the cultural center. Founded on September 19, 1976, the LCC was the first cultural center at UIC and was named after a Puerto Rican professor, Rafael Cintrón Ortiz, who supported the just struggles of the student activists in the 1970s.

Just a few hours before the event began, Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) led hundreds of students in successfully preventing the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol from attending a career fair hosted by UIC. Student activists, university faculty and staff, and community members filled the LCC. People socialized and shared food, listened to speeches from professors, alumni and cultural center staff, and ended the night by dancing to music by Chicago DJ duo TRQPiTECA and local student band Grupo Tercero. Months of work by cultural center staff, student interns and countless others made this lively celebration possible. Attendees remarked how emotional and empowered the event made them feel, and rightfully so.

Donald Trump’s racist and reactionary administration has come down hard on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in higher education. At many universities across the country, cultural centers have been downright closed or “consolidated,” that is, effectively shut down. To make matters worse, these decisions are often made by racist campus administrators without any warning to the staff and interns at said cultural centers, leaving them jobless. Such is the situation at Louisiana State University, for instance. But it would be a mistake to believe that these attacks on DEI are limited to places like the Black Belt South or Aztlán, where the national liberation struggles of the African-American and Chicano peoples for self-determination are respectively rooted.

In the Midwest, and in Black and brown working-class cities like Chicago, there have also been attacks on DEI. At universities like UIC, there is a long history of struggles for full equality for oppressed nationalities. The oppressed students and youth here have waged historic fights for recruitment programs, ethnic studies departments and cultural centers. And to this day, the struggle for full equality rages on. Student activist groups such as New Students for a Democratic Society at UIC have been waging a struggle to defend and increase funding for the cultural centers on campus, successfully reversing a budget cut proposed by the university administration in 2025.

Jorge Mena Robles, a former student activist with the Immigrant Youth Justice League at UIC and current associate director of the LCC, took the stage. Mena Robles introduced the keynote speaker for the nighttime celebration, Dr. Lilia Fernandez.

Dr. Fernandez is a professor and director of Graduate Studies at UIC in the Department of History. She is a historian of the 20th-century United States and author of the seminal work Brown in the Windy City: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Postwar Chicago, and perhaps the best professor I’ve ever had at UIC. For this reason, I have received her permission to quote her at length in an attempt to highlight what I believe are some of the most important points that she raised during her keynote speech, which I believe highlight the historical significance of the LCC’s 50th anniversary.

“I'd like to start by acknowledging the many student activists who were here in the early 1970s, especially in 1973, who protested, occupied university hall, made demands for greater access to this university, and otherwise registered their dissent over how this institution explicitly excluded Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans and other students of color. They acted with courage and commitment at great risk to their personal well-being and their educational careers, and it's because of them that we are here today,” said Dr. Fernandez.

Fernandez continued, “Let me provide some further historical context about when the RCOLCC was first opened in 1976. The year before, the United States had finally abandoned the Vietnam War, after it had claimed the lives of so many of our community's young men. The Sears Tower, and in my book it will always be The Sears Tower, was shining anew, having only been built just three years prior. And to bring this closer to home, to make this more personal, I was just a preschooler at El Hogar Del Niño Daycare Center in Pilsen, for any of you who know it. A culturally conscious community institution that provided childcare for the neighborhood's working mothers. El Hogar Del Niño, just like El Centro De La Causa, Casa Aztlán, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, this cultural center, and so much else that we've enjoyed in our communities for decades, was the fruit of so much activist labor.”

Fernandez highlighted how much the university has changed in the past 50 years: “UIC was a very different place 50 years ago. Latino students were very few in number. They found themselves in a sea of predominantly white students, many of whom we should note, traced their own roots to working-class and immigrant families. But few of those white classmates came from the same neighborhoods or high schools, or shared the same cultural practices or traditions as Latino students. Back then, Latinos could experience outright hostility and antagonism for their mere presence here at Circle, as it was known. Not only from academics, who argued that minority students were intellectually inferior, but from others who thought that Latinos did not deserve access to higher education. A lot has changed in the past 50 years. Today, whether the university celebrates it or not, UIC is a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution.”

In reviewing UIC’s latest demographic statistics, Dr. Fernandez reminded Latino students of the power they hold at the university. She said, “In fall 2025, Latinos made up 36% of all UIC undergraduates, 42% of all incoming first-years, and 30% of all students in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs combined. Think about how far we've come in the last 50 years. Fifty years ago Latinos were less than 2% of students here. Today they are the largest ethnic group in this richly diverse, multi-racial community. And unlike days past, where the cultural center was the only refuge where Latino students might find one another, besides a dining hall table I've heard of in the student center back in the day. Today Latino students are visible everywhere on this campus. In fact, this university depends on Latino students. If all of them suddenly decided collectively to withdraw their tuition payments, their financial aid checks, their course registrations… If that were to happen, this university would face a major crisis.”

Dr. Fernandez also explained that many students and youth are dealing with intense “individualism, alienation, and isolation” and that cultural centers such as the LCC can help provide an antidote to these ills and serve as places “to build community, to come together, to learn from one another, face-to-face.” She reflected on the challenging times that we live in under Trump’s racist and reactionary administration, the need to oppose U.S. wars in Asia, Africa and the Americas, and the extreme wealth inequality in this country brought on by the accelerated decline of monopoly capitalism, referring to the times we live in as “The Gilded Age on steroids.”

Then, Dr. Fernandez posed important questions about the historical and contemporary visibility of Latinos in U.S. society. She said, “When people think about our contributions to this country, to this city, we are often celebrated for our arts and culture. That is wonderful. But I want to urge us to think about our culture critically. We're recognized for our colorful fiestas, our celebrations, and there's nothing inherently wrong with being artists or cultural workers. But what I see problematic is when we are reduced and restricted to only those roles. When we are seen strictly through that lens, as festive, happy people, performers, or entertainers, for an audience, perhaps. Then, I think we have a problem. Pigeonholing us in that way diminishes our whole humanity. What about our social, political, and economic contributions? For the enduring campaigns we've fought? For the blood, sweat, and tears we have shed?”

Finally, Dr. Fernandez ended her speech by speaking directly to the youth in attendance and saying, “I'm passionate about lifting up and highlighting our many forms of labor to claim our rightful place in this society, and I'm going to use my authority here as a professor right now to give you all some homework, students in particular, a challenge, perhaps.”

“Whenever you come to campus, I want you to ask yourselves: What are we doing here to advance justice? To bring about meaningful social-political change? To promote collective freedom? I encourage you to think about the LCC as a site of historical struggle, and a place to build on the legacy of those students and community members who fought for us to be able to enjoy it today. So I leave you with these two last questions: What will our legacy be? And how will we be remembered in 50 years? Thank you.”

Ángel Naranjos is a fourth-year student at UIC, a Latin American and Latino Studies major, and a leader of MeSA’s Education, Resistance, and Activism Committee.

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #Commentary #Chicano #Latino #ImmigrantRights #ICE #UIC

Chicago IL – Over 150 students, faculty and community mobilized at the University of Illinois at Chicago Quad on Wednesday, September 23, to protest the UIC administration for inviting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to recruit at the Business Career Fair and to demand that UIC declare itself a sanctuary campus.

The protest, organized by Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) with the support of multiple campus organizations, forced CBP to quietly withdraw from the event.

The action came after students received Handshake (a university jobs board) notifications inviting them to meet with border patrol recruiters at the career fair.

MeSA issued a call for the UIC community to demand that Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda, the UIC administration and the College of Business revoke the invitation and make a public statement to the community. Within hours, the administration shut down phone lines as students, staff and community members flooded the chancellor's office with calls and emails. CBP announced it would not attend, but the administration refused to formally revoke the invitation.

MeSA speakers made it very clear that CBP's backing out from the event was a victory won by student organizing. And that the administration is at fault for it.

“The only reason those pigs aren't here right now is because of our efforts, your efforts,” said Lupe Lara Guzman, a co-lead of MeSA's ERA Committee.

Guzman continued, “Chancellor Miranda was perfectly fine with their attendance as long as they followed proper guidelines. Chancellor Miranda: was CBP following proper guidelines when they murdered Silverio Villegas González last September? Or when they abducted two women off of our campus last October? Have they been following proper guidelines as they continue to terrorize our communities every single day? You cannot hide behind protocol, Chancellor Miranda. Your neutrality and silence is complicity. More than that, it is disgusting, morally abhorrent, and shameful.”

Kalin Daniel of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) told the crowd, “The harm was done the moment that invitation was sent. The fact that CBP declined does not erase the fact that UIC administration wanted them here. It does not erase the fact that they viewed an agency of state violence as a 'suitable employer' for our students.”

Kayla Nguyen, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “As a rapid responder myself, I see the on-the-ground impacts of these racists on Chicago's streets every day.”

Nguyen continued, “We see CPD allowing ICE to stage in the 17th District police department parking lot. We see CPD racially profiling and targeting Mexican families celebrating Independence Day. We see them handing snacks and water to ICE and CBP at Broadview. This system is fucking broken, and we fucking know it. This an empire in decline. Donald Trump and his racist capitalist cronies are just a symptom of it!”

Karime Beltran, another co-lead of MeSA's ERA Committee, stated, “As a Mexican American student, it is deeply disturbing to see UIC prioritize an employer relationship over the safety, dignity, and sense of belonging of its own students. We are demanding more than statements. We are demanding action. UIC should take meaningful steps toward becoming a sanctuary campus, including cutting institutional ties with CBP and ICE and prioritizing the safety and well-being of the students who call this university home.”

The protest was organized by MeSA in response to UIC's invitation to CBP and the administration's refusal to formally rescind it. The action builds on the prior organizing work of MeSA's sanctuary campus campaign, which has demanded that UIC cut ties with immigration enforcement agencies and invest in protections for undocumented students. The ever-increasing demand for a sanctuary campus comes after a federal court struck down the Acevedo Act, Illinois DREAM Act, and Illinois RISE Act in July 2026, severely restricting educational access for undocumented students in Illinois. It also follows the abduction of two women by immigration agents on UIC's campus during Operation Midway Blitz last October.

Endorsing organizations for the September 23 rally included Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, Anakbayan at UIC, Fearless Undocumented Alliance, Jewish Student Collective at UIC, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Sanctuary For All.

Organizers called on people to join organizations and continue the fight for a sanctuary campus and to hold the administration accountable.

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #MESA #UIC #CBP #ICE #Chicano #OppressedNationalities

Chicago, IL – 50 community members, elected officials and rapid responders gathered in the Albany Park neighborhood on Saturday, September 12 to call for an investigation into what appeared to be collaboration between CPD and ICE observed by a rapid response volunteer at the beginning of the month.

The rapid responder observed multiple unmarked ICE vehicles operating out of the 17th Police District parking lot and began filming when the vehicles drove aggressively straight at her before exiting the lot. ICE presence in a Police District parking lot is a clear violation of the ICE-Free Zone executive order signed by Mayor Brandon Johnson in October 2025, which prohibits ICE from using city parking lots, vacant lots and garages as civil immigration enforcement staging areas, processing locations or operations bases.

Omar Flores, an organizer with the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated, “They should be willing to uphold the mayor’s executive order. They are beholden to the community!”

Rebecca Rios is a mother in the 17th District who has helped organize volunteers to accompany students on their walk to school to protect them from the gangs of ICE agents that have targeted her community. CPD’s “role is to protect and serve and what we’ve seen is quite the opposite,” Rios said at the press conference. “What we’ve also seen is our community come together to protect our children.”

Rios described how local immigrant rights organizations and community members have supported the family of a five-year-old schoolgirl whose father was abducted by ICE on Halloween last year. She said the father has been released due to pressure from the community. “It has been devastatingly beautiful,” she said.

State Senator Graciela Guzman cited the Illinois Trust Act, which prohibits state and local law enforcement from participating in federal immigration enforcement. In any case of potential collaboration, “we need to know why they were there, what they were doing, who knew that they were there and whether any personnel, resources, information, or facilities were used to assist them,” Guzman said.

The press conference took place outside of the 17th District Council monthly public meeting, at which attendees planned to give public comment asking the District Councilors to demand information from CPD about the potential collaboration, and report it to Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), a city-wide body with policymaking power over the police.

Chicagoans have been consistently demanding action from the CCPSA on CPD-ICE collaboration, with a January meeting bringing out over 1600 community members testifying about examples of what Flores described as CPD rolling “out the red carpet for ICE to continue their reign of terror in Chicago.”

The CCPSA also plays a central role in selecting candidates for police superintendent, a process that is currently underway to replace former Superintendent Larry Snelling. Snelling had outright denied the existence of any collaboration between CPD and ICE, Flores said.

“As we go into the search for the next superintendent, we demand the next superintendent take CPD-ICE collaboration seriously,” Flores said. “CAARPR fought to create the District Councils and the CCPSA to create transparency and accountability. We’re fighting for even more power now through the Community Power Over Policing referendum that will help us be able to actually hold these officers accountable and take on CPD-ICE collaboration.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #InjusticeSystem #ChicagoPD #ICE