Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

ChicagoIl

By staff

Chicago students stand in solidarity with Yemen and Palestine. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – On Thursday, January 18, nearly 150 students rallied and marched at the University of Illinois at Chicago as part of Students for a Democratic Society’s national day of action against the U.S. bombing of Yemen and in solidarity with the resistance in Palestine.

Read more...

By staff

Chicago protest in solidarity with Palestine and Yemen. | Fight Back! News/Alec Ozawa

Chicago, IL – Over 750 protesters braved the coldest weekend of this winter so far on Saturday, January 13 to demand that the U.S. and its allies take their hands off Yemen and end their support of Israel’s genocide in Palestine.

The protesters spoke in favor of Yemen's naval blockade against Israel as well as in support of South Africa charging the apartheid state with genocide at the International Court of Justice. This was the latest in a string of weekly protests organized by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine since October 7, 2023.

Read more...

By staff

Chicago Black and brown solidarity march with Palestine.  | Fight Back! News/Olan Mijana.

Chicago, IL – 500 protesters gathered on the evening of January 5 outside Chicago Police headquarters on the Southside of Chicago in a demonstration of Black and brown solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

Read more...

By Joe Iosbaker

Activist Jasmine Smith speaking in front of City Hall. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – “How do you spell racist? FOP!” The crowd of 50 protesters on the LaSalle Street side of Chicago City Hall were loud and determined, December 13. As usual when there is a vote in city council that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) cares about, there were extra cops on hand for intimidation. But the movement for police accountability had been standing up to the Chicago Police Department for decades.

Read more...

By Frank Chapman

Frank Chapman. | Fight Back! News/staff

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

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

Read more...

By John Metz

Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine receiving award at People's Thanksgiving. | Fight Back! News/Olan Mijana

Chicago, IL – 125 activists gathered in Chicago, December 2. for the 2023 People’s Thanksgiving, honoring the major achievements of our movement over the past year. The annual event, organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, serves as a people's alternative to the colonial holiday of Thanksgiving.

Read more...

By John Metz

Mass sit-in on DuSable Lake Shore Drive in solidarity with Palestine. | Fight Back! News/Alec Ozawa

Chicago, IL – As the bombardment of Gaza entered its seventh week, 5000 protesters seized Chicago's DuSable Lake Shore Drive, November 18, demanding an immediate end to the Israeli genocide. The latest in a series of protests held across the city and beyond, this act of mass civil disobedience marked the first such shutdown of this important and iconic thoroughfare since the outset of the Iraq War two decades before.

Read more...

By staff

Fight Back! is circulating this statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the US Palestinian Community Network

On November 15, three FBI agents came to the Chicago home of an international solidarity activist in Chicago who had traveled to Venezuela. The activist wasn’t home, but the agent in charge gave the landlord his card. He asked to be let into the building, but the landlord refused and instead reported the visit to the tenant.

Read more...

By Kobi Guillory

Palestine solidarity march targets Biden visit to Chicago. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – When U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at a fundraiser in West Town, Chicago on Thursday afternoon, November 9, he was met by a crowd of 5000 people chanting “Genocide Joe” among other slogans condemning Biden for his role in maintaining U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Read more...

By Joe Iosbaker

Participants in the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression conference.  | Fight Back! News/staff

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

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

Read more...