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 #Featured

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

Joliet, IL – Dozens of nurses and their supporters rallied in the pouring rain September 30 to call attention to Prime Healthcare’s closing of the Obstetrics and Special Care Nursery departments at Saint Joseph Hospital in Joliet, Illinois. Prime Healthcare is a nationwide “for-profit” corporation that is known for eliminating services that are not making enough money. These cuts affect working-class poor people the most.

Since acquiring Saint Joseph in March 2025, Prime has closed the inpatient pediatric unit, closed a 30-bed acute care for the elderly unit for a year, closed the post-surgical unit and is seeking to permanently close pediatric inpatient services.

According to 35-year Saint Joseph Hospital Registered Nurse Kim Craig, the matter is made worse, “because as doctors retired, they never replaced them.” Saint Joseph Hospital is licensed to 489 beds, but according to the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) they operate at 195 to 225 beds per day because of Prime Healthcare cuts.

But a core of registered nurses, members of the INA, are not taking it. On Wednesday, September 30, they rallied with community members calling for Prime Healthcare to not leave the 153,000 residents of the fourth-largest city in Illinois without critically needed healthcare.

“This is the last day for our unit to be open, we are officially closed as of tomorrow morning,” said Kim Craig, who works in the Special Care Nursery, “It’s horrible; half of our staff has not been placed. But the biggest part is, what are we going to do with all our moms and babies now? There is nobody in the Joliet area.” Prime Healthcare is making major cuts to the only hospital in Joliet.

Warehouses moved into Joliet, staffed by non-union subcontractors for Walmart, Amazon and other corporate giants. 4000 union employees at U.S. Steel and the 7000 union Caterpillar workers have lost their jobs, as both of those plants closed. Joliet Township Supervisor Cesar Guerrero talked about the union spirit in Joliet which lives on inside this core of INA leaders, who are fighting to preserve decent jobs, but also fighting for access to healthcare for Joliet.

The rally also heard from former INA staffer Michelle Couturier who was involved in organizing the INA strike against Saint Joseph Hospital in the early 1990s. This strike led to INA’s first contract with Saint Joseph Hospital. Couturier talked about the militant tactics and innovative strategies that the mostly women nurses used to win the contract.

The day before the rally, INA showed up at the hospital to bargain the effects of the most recent cuts. Even though Prime is legally required to bargain, they instead called the police on the union. Fortunately, the police that showed up did not make arrests and told Prime to work it out with the union.

“This community and our patients deserve a hospital within Joliet to serve Joliet. The mothers and babies of Joliet deserve to be able to deliver in a place that is safe, close to home and easily accessible,” concluded Christina Vanoskey, a Labor and Delivery Unit registered nurse.

#JolietIL #IL #Labor #INA #Nurses #SaintJosephHospital #Feature

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

Chicago, IL – Thousands of Chicagoans lined up around the block to celebrate the launch of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s re-election campaign at the DuSable Black History Museum on the South Side of Chicago. Overcast skies and drizzling rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of Johnson’s supporters. The crowd represented a vast range of community organizations, unions, faith-based groups, elected officials, youth organizations, and individuals in working and oppressed communities.

“We came together four years ago and said ‘It’s time to get a brother from Chicago on the fifth floor. Someone who will fight for the working class,’” said State Senator Graciela Guzmán, kicking off the event by describing Johnson’s first campaign.

“After generations of trying to speak truth to power, we finally have someone who is speaking truth in power,” added Rev. Tanya Lozano, founder of Healthy Hood Chicago.

“Brother Brandon Johnson does not just represent us, Brother Brandon Johnson is us,” continued Lozano, whose family has brought forward some of the most prolific working-class organizers in Chicago’s history, including Rudy Lozano and Emma Lozano.

“For decades we were told that, to keep people safe, we need mass incarceration and policing. Mayor Johnson showed that we keep people safe through care,” said 33rd Ward Alder Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez.

“The time to organize is now!” declared 20th Ward Alder Jeanette Taylor, encouraging the crowd to work with the Johnson administration in advancing its progressive goals. Taylor also spoke on the history of the predominantly Black 20th Ward, which is home to both the DuSable Museum and Dyett High School, which Taylor went on hunger strike to keep from closing in 2015.

Taylor, Rodriguez Sanchez, Guzmán, and dozens of progressive elected officials and union leaders took to the stage to voice their support of Mayor Johnson. Among them were school board presidential candidate Hilario Dominguez and District 5A incumbent Jitu Brown, who was also one of the Dyett hunger strikers.

“Rebuilding a village takes longer than one term. We had decades of disinvestment and that's not gonna be fixed in four years,” said Chicago Teachers Union member Ashley Davis.

Davis and other speakers uplifted the Johnson administration’s successes. These include investments in schools, mental healthcare, youth programs and violence prevention, as well as minimum wage increases and childcare for working people. Speakers also mentioned Johnson’s stances against ICE and for Palestine.

“He made Chicago one of the first cities in the nation to call for a ceasefire in Gaza,” said Imam Tariq El-Amin, referring to Johnson’s tiebreaker vote on a ceasefire resolution in 2024.

A number of speakers, including Johnson himself, cited the fact that in 2025 Chicago saw its lowest murder rate in 61 years.

“They said there would be blood in the streets and violence would run amok,” Johnson said, referring to a statement by Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara in 2023.

The FOP has spent the last four years trying to undermine the Johnson administration and the District councilors elected to hold police accountable. The FOP recently endorsed Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.

“The ultrarich have done a lot to confuse my record,” said Johnson, explaining why racist groups like the FOP and billionaires like Michael Sacks and the Pritzker family are opposing his reelection. “The same people who closed schools spent millions lying about what we’re doing.”

“This city is better, stronger and safer than the city I inherited,” Johnson said.

He then stressed the importance of the working-class character and cross-racial unity of the coalition that brought him into office. “We refuse to allow authoritarianism to separate us by race when we are united by class.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #BrandonJohnson #Elections #PeoplesStruggles #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday, September 9, 35 students gathered at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Quad on a rainy morning to participate in a rally called for and led by Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) demanding undocumented students’ right to education, that the university administration fight Donald Trump’s racist agenda, and a sanctuary campus.

This protest comes after recent attacks on educational access for undocumented students by the Trump administration. On July 24, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois struck down the Acevedo Act, Illinois DREAM Act, and Illinois RISE Act under the rationale that they “violated federal law when applied to non-citizens.” David W. Dugan, the federal judge presiding over these rulings, was appointed by Trump in 2020 shortly before the end of his first term as president. These acts were bravely fought for by student activists across Illinois, and their gutting has had an immediate impact on undocumented students’ right to education.

The Acevedo Act made it possible for undocumented students to have access to affordable in-state tuition to attend college in Illinois. The Illinois DREAM Act made scholarships, college savings, and prepaid tuition accessible to undocumented students who graduated from Illinois high schools, among other things. The RISE Act allowed undocumented and transgender students who were not eligible for federal student aid to apply for state financial aid like the MAP Grant through the Alternative Application. Now, many of these options are no longer available or have been severely restricted.

Lupe Lara Guzman, a member of MeSA’s Education Resistance and Activism Committee, said, “I want to invite you to imagine what undocumented and Chicane/Latine students have lived through leading up to this point here at UIC, having to watch as our university flaunts its status as a Hispanic Serving Institution, while seemingly having no care for the safety of those same students, and refusing to acknowledge the abduction of two women on our campus.”

Lara Guzman continued, “We had to commute to campus as ICE occupied our city during Operation Midway Blitz, like vultures circling. We had to sit through lectures as ICE was seen at our parents' workplaces, at our sibling’s schools, and on train platforms that we were just on. That is no way to live, no way to learn. And now even our education is being stripped from us while our university does nothing. Shame!”

Estefani Sánchez, another member of MeSA’s Education Resistance and Activism Committee, said, “The Trump administration has ramped up attacks on higher education and is reversing laws and acts that make education affordable for students who otherwise would not have been able to go to college. These attacks are attempts to isolate and encourage students to self-deport, which we firmly oppose. All students should have the right to an affordable and accessible education regardless of one’s legal status in the United States.”

“MeSA intends to continue in the struggle for access to education for all students and continue to advocate for a sanctuary campus for everyone at UIC!” said Sánchez.

Endorsing organizations included Anakbayan at UIC, Fearless Undocumented Alliance, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Graduate Employees Organization Local 6297, Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Lambda Theta Phi, Latine in Law, Latinos Unidos, New Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, and Sanctuary For All.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #MeSA #StudentMovement #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday, September 2, Teamsters Local 700 voted to approve a two-year contract with the Forest Preserves of Cook County. The final vote was a close 88 to 82. The strike lasted for two weeks before the administration gave into some of the demands of the workers.

The strike had come after a year of failed negotiations. Rank-and-file workers organized their own committee, Forest Preserves Teamsters United, which led the bargaining unit in voting down four tentative agreements. After two periods of contract extensions, the workers voted to strike. It was the first time the workers at the forest preserves had ever gone on strike. Many had never attended a picket line before. Despite the lack of experience, the workers were steadfast, frequently marching through the county building in downtown Chicago as a show of force.

The final contract has several improvements won by the strike. Overtime on the sixth and seventh day is now guaranteed. The mandatory weekend work, widely despised by resource management workers, will be reduced by 50%. Seniority will be respected for bidding on scheduling in landscape maintenance. However, no movement was made on the wage schedule.

Brannon Curtis-Wittenberg, a senior resource technician with the Forest Preserves, said the workers were “asking for fair wages compared to non-union employees. Our current step raises are about a tenth of what the non-union makes.”

For example, under the current wage schedule, a laborer in landscape maintenance receives just $1.78 in raises over nine years, with some annual step increases as small as 12 cents an hour. This is despite the recent $4.8 million budget increase due to a new allocation of tax money to the Forest Preserves.

Cal Filkin, a resource technician, commented on the main victory of the strike, saying, “Even if we didn’t achieve the economic changes to the contract that we needed, we’re not going back to work, tail between our legs. I believe the most consequential achievement is the changes we’ve affected in our members through this struggle: we self-organized across 20 work locations; we’ve empowered ourselves to stand up and fight; and we’ve proved to ourselves that we can fight and we can win. Nine months ago, we had none of that. Now, heading back into negotiations next year, we have a very credible strike threat.”

David Yokley, who works as a landscaper, said there was still work to do. “Going forward, we got a few small concessions, but gains nonetheless. But this is just the beginning. Negotiations begin soon, so we don’t have a lot of time to take a break. We're mobilizing right now, keeping people energized.”

When asked what his message to other union members was, Curtis-Wittenberg said, “Stay strong, talk to your coworkers. If your union is not as organized as you would like it to be, make it organized. It is your union.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #Teamsters #Strike #TeamstersLocal700 #Feature

Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, September 1, two dozen students gathered at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Quad on a blazing hot afternoon. The students rallied for a national day of action called for by the New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) demanding “ICE off campus!” as well as protection for undocumented students, and a sanctuary campus.

“ICE is an illegal gestapo with the sole purpose to profile, dehumanize and disappear people of color,” said Aidan Shaw, a member of New SDS at UIC.

Shaw continued, “They wear masks because they are cowards and know what they are doing is wrong. They drive unmarked vehicles, because they want to stay untraced, and because their formation has been rushed by a disorganized leader. They do not have badges or warrants, because they do not have training, legal permission from judges, and because they are an illegitimate organization. But the city of Chicago is strong, and we have fought back!”

Speakers recalled the events of the fall 2025-2026 school year, when Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) led hundreds of students in protesting the ICE kidnapping of two women on campus. Student speakers described the UIC administration’s lackluster response. The two women were eventually released due to their being recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) – a status still actively held by nearly 450,000 immigrants in the United States.

“We all remember the occupation of our city, Chicago, by hundreds of ICE agents and National Guard almost a year ago in what was dubbed ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ by the racist and reactionary Trump administration. Many of us lived in fear of what could happen to ourselves, our loved ones, and our neighbors,” said Ángel Naranjos, a member of MeSA.

Naranjos explained, “We saw what happened on September 12, 2025, when a Mexican man who was simply dropping off his children to school was racially profiled and murdered by ICE agents. His name was Silverio Villegas, and he should still be alive today. Keith Porter, Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Pierre Damas Bel – a Haitian student who was tragically driven to suicide by this racist administration – should still be alive today!”

Jacob Belencion from Anakbayan at UIC, a Filipino youth and student organization, said, ”ICE is still present on the streets of Chicagoland, and their tactics have changed to be more hidden. In fact, they are now trying to achieve a quota of detaining 2000 people a day. Shame!”

Belencion continued, “Since the start of this administration and the daily terror that ICE has brought upon us, we have seen many of our fellow migrants detained. Filipinos like Kuya J have faced horrible conditions in the detention centers, such as the overcrowded cells where he was forced to drink from the toilet, among others, because ICE did not provide drinkable water. Shame!”

“It is ICE who is terrorizing our neighbors. It is ICE who is ripping through our streets and disrupting our communities,” said Maya Sánchez, a Freedom Road Socialist Organization member.

 “That’s why we need more than reform – we need a socialist revolution to dismantle the system of capitalism that has given birth to the racism and repression that creates bullshit institutions like ICE in the first place! We need to transfer power from the hands of the monopoly capitalists to the hands of working and oppressed people. Only then can we put an end to ICE’s terror,” said Sánchez.

“I’d like to end this protest with a powerful chant popularized by the late Chicago Black Panther – Fred Hampton – who would have turned 78 years old this past Sunday had the government not murdered him in cold blood at the age of 21,” said Ariana Vega, co-chair of New SDS at UIC.

“Dare to struggle! Dare to win!”

Endorsing organizations included Anakbayan at UIC, Fearless Undocumented Alliance, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), and Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) who co-emceed the protest alongside UIC’s New SDS chapter.

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #UIC #SDS

Chicago, IL – 100 nurses and their allies gathered outside the Cook County Pension Fund in downtown Chicago on Augurst 27 demanding the fund sever ties with Palantir, a surveillance technology company. National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the U.S., organized the Chicago protest, as well as seven others across the country.

NNU’s campaign to “Purge Palantir” comes as many hospitals establish deeper ties with the company. Some hospitals use Palantir to automate nurse staffing, laying off local managers and worsening working conditions. Other hospitals share patient data with Palantir, which then uses that information so ICE can target and deport immigrant patients.

“Union nurses cannot be silent when our most vulnerable people, babies and children, are being detained by federal immigration agents,” said NNU President Jamie Brown, RN. “While our patients and neighbors are living in fear of immigration raids enabled by Palantir, our hospitals are facing huge cuts, and our patients are facing mounting health care costs because of HR 1. Nurses aren’t just saying no to Palantir, but we’re calling for our public resources to go toward the benefit of working people, not billionaires and their corporations.”

Husam Marajda of U.S. Palestinian Community Network stated, “Per Palantir’s own admission, it serves to help fight ‘U.S. adversaries.’ This specifically means that Palantir serves war and terror. It means that Palantir gives technology to criminal governments and administrations like the United States and Israel and others, to commit war crimes. To kidnap and separate families. To cause destruction everywhere.”

Among Palantir’s backers and investors are the managers of various public worker pension funds, including the Illinois State Board of Investment and the Cook County Pension Fund. CTU Recording Secretary Vicki Kurzydlo explained, “We cannot tell our students and our families that we stand with them while our retirement dollars are invested in companies like Palantir, whose technologies are being used to target, arrest, and disappear people!”

Nurses and health care workers occupied the street for ten minutes. Organizers placed baby shoes in front of banners reading, “Patients over Palantir” and “Purge Palantir.” The shoes represented the over 500 babies that ICE has detained since 2025. Other protesters held notes that children wrote in ICE detention. Some raised umbrellas with big eyes attached symbolizing that nurses are “keeping an eye” on Palantir’s harmful activities.

NNU continues to organize against hospital funding cuts and Palantir. They fight for a better, healthier, future for all. One of NNU’s main calls is to, “Fund care, not billionaires.” You can sign the petition at the National Nurses United website.

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #NationalNursesUnited #Palantir #ImmigrantRights #ICE #AntiWarMovement

Chicago, IL – Kenneth Boudreau was nervous. The retired Chicago Police Department (CPD) detective talks like a tough guy, but his voice sped up and got louder under questioning by Russell Ainsworth, attorney for Johnny Plummer.

Fortunately for Boudreau, he has attorneys funded by Cook County taxpayers who were ready to jump in to help him clarify his answers.

Boudreau was on the stand in a third stage hearing at the Cook County courthouse on August 26. Recently, new evidence emerged in Plummer’s 35-year-old case of wrongful conviction.

Plummer had always maintained that he was beaten into a confession the night he was picked up at age 15. He reported that beating to the first adult who wasn’t a police officer, a doctor who did an intake interview when Plummer was handed over to the Audi Home. That doctor wrote Plummer’s statement in his notes.

In all of his trials, CPD denied that such a medical record existed. After 35 years, it suddenly appeared in a standard search of Plummer’s files.

Back in 1991, the Area 3 police station where Boudreau was assigned was also where Detective Jon Burge worked. Everyone knows Burge’s name – the leader of the Midnight Crew of brutal detectives. Because of Burge and those other dirty cops, Illinois is the only state that has a Torture Commission in the legislature. At least 223 cases have been exonerated in court because they proved that the men involved had been subject to physical abuse. Boudreau was involved in the interrogation of 28 of those men – the largest number of any cop besides Burge.

Three months after Boudreau arrived there, Burge was suspended because an investigation by the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) found evidence he tortured a suspect, Andrew Wilson.

What can a timeline tell us?

Detective Kenneth Boudreau had much to tell the court about his transition from being a part of the military to serving as a police officer back in 1991. From Boudreau’s claim, there was little probability that he could have met or tortured Johnny Plummer.

Plummer, now 50 years old, has been sitting in prison since being tortured into a confession back in 1991 at age 15. That was one of the last years that the “Midnight Crew,” run by the now-deceased Jon Burge, was in full effect. Since then, the Chicago City Council voted for reparations to the survivors of Burge and the officers he commanded.

It stands to reason, then, that Boudreau would feel it necessary to distance himself from Burge. According to Boudreau, his time as a detective began in August 1991, and he had rotating partners. The detective denied having worked with or even seen Burge at Area 3. Plummer’s defense, Russell Ainsworth, highlighted that this may have been an under-exaggeration. The two had time to cross paths, as Burge’s suspension occurred in November 1991.

Furthermore, this was at the height of Burge’s legal issues. Ainsworth asked Boudreau, “You helped fundraise for Burge,” to which the detective’s defense objected. A new detective such as Boudreau would have likely reported to Jon Burge between August and November 1991, especially because Burge was the overseer of the torture that occurred in the Southside from 1972 to 1991.

Plummer has always said that Boudreau and Michael Kill were the two detectives that tortured him. Although the official police report excludes Boudreau, the detective admitted in court that it was common practice to change reports to include detectives with supporting evidence. Close followers of the torture scandals in Chicago know it was also common practice among cops to leave out of the report the name of the cop that inflicted most of the torture.

Legal fight continues for justice for Johnny Plummer

The next step in this case will be on October 29, when Joey Mogul, one of Johnny Plummer’s previous attorneys, will take the stand. Mogul says she requested his medical records during that trial some years ago. Plummer’s medical records show he reported being tortured. The judge in Plummer’s case, Tyria B. Walton, recognized that the medical records were significant, and that their exclusion from his original trial would be integral in defining how to move forward with this case.

In a June hearing, Judge Walton explained, “The Brady language is unyielding: whether the withholding was intentional or not, there was definite cause for a Brady Violation.”

Johnny’s family is hoping that proving there was a Brady Violation will lead to him being released while he continues to fight for justice.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #PoliceTorture #JohnnyPlummer #CPD #OppressedNationalities

On Tuesday, August 25th, the racist Oak Lawn Police Department (OLPD) arrested Kobi Guillory, a Black teacher and leader in the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), after he left the Oak Lawn Village Board of Trustees meeting. For over four years, the community has been protesting both the racist patterns and practices of OLPD and the village that refuses to hold criminal cops accountable.

The protest was organized by the AAAN, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, CAARPR, Southsiders for Peace, and others. Almost 20 people testified in public comment to the Oak Lawn mayor and trustees, demanding that the mayor clean up his racist police department and village.

When the meeting was over, OLPD then followed Guillory from the village hall in six squad cars, boxed in the vehicle he was traveling in, and threatened to smash the vehicle’s windows before forcing him into custody. Previously, as an attempted tactic of intimidation, OLPD showed up to question him at the school in Chicago where he works.

AAAN, Guillory and CAARPR, and the Palestinian community of Oak Lawn and the southwest suburbs have been protesting the OLPD and the Oak Lawn Fire and Police Commission meetings for years. Protests have called for the firing and charging of the white, racist officers involved in the brutalization and hospitalization of Palestinian teenager Hadi Abuatelah in 2022 (Abuatelah ultimately won over $800,000 in a settlement against the village); as well as accountability for racist decisions that led to Leanne Cusack – a white woman who had been drinking and murdered an Arab man, Murod Kurdi, with her car in 2023 – being allowed to walk away with only a speeding ticket. 

Guillory’s arrest is the latest in a string of retaliatory arrests and false charges against community members who have spoken out against these abuses. Two weeks ago, OLPD arrested the mother of a 14-year-old who was lifted off his feet, slammed into a counter, and placed in a chokehold by police while giving public comment at the commission meeting on August 5th. Right before the protest August 26 protest, police arrested a AAAN organizer.

“These frameups are a clear attempt by Oak Lawn and OLPD to skirt accountability for their racist abuse against Arab and other Black and brown community members, especially the criminal assault on the 14-year-old earlier this month,” said Nadiah Alyafai, another AAAN organizer. “And then OLPD puts out a statement yesterday attacking the AAAN, CAARPR, and other organizers for upholding our first amendment right to protest their racism. It’s just one Oak Lawn fail after another!”

Guillory and the fifty protesters who waited for him were undeterred following his release late Tuesday night. “We’re going to keep on showing up, we’re going to get this independent investigation of Oak Lawn PD, we’re going to clean this police department out from the top-down,” Guillory said.

AAAN, CAARPR, and their partners in the campaign will continue demanding that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raul initiate an independent investigation into the Oak Lawn police, and are calling for the community to mobilize for the Fire & Police Commission meeting on September 2nd. Until the false charges are dropped, the community will also be mobilizing to support the three who have been arrested, starting at their court hearing on September 17th in Bridgeview, Illinois.

#OakLawnIL #IL #Chicago #InjusticeSystem #CAARPR #AAAN #OLPD

Chicago, IL– 30 Chicago community members from the South and West sides gathered at the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression on Saturday, August 15 for an event discussing the widespread attacks on Black political power and Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s (FRSO) political line on the struggle to defend voting rights.

In late April, the Supreme Court struck a fatal blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, ruling that states could redraw congressional districts in a way that reduces Black voting power, as long as they say the racist outcomes aren’t intentional. The decision, called Louisiana v. Callais, was a major attack in a larger Trump offensive against the political power of Black people.

The program covered the history of African American struggle for voting rights in the United States, analyzed the current wave of attacks and racist redistricting, and explored Freedom Road’s line on the African American national question.

Frank Chapman, representing the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, described the history of the struggle for the African American right to vote in the context of the U.S. and explained the significance of the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.

“It was during this period that Black people expressed the right to vote,” Chapman said. “They elected members to Congress, sheriffs and constables, justices of the peace and mayors.”

After World War II, the Black Liberation Movement grew in the deep South into the historic Civil Rights struggle that culminated with what Chapman called the “Civil Rights Revolution.”

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 once again set the nation upon a course of addressing the question of the oppression of Black people and recognizing the agency of Black people to end their oppression,” he said.

After the history lesson, FRSO member Tulsi McDaniels presented an analysis of the particular attacks on Black voters in key Southern states, suggesting that the racist redistricting that followed the Callais decision represents the greatest rollback in political power since the end of Reconstruction.

In Tennessee, for example, Republicans redrew the state map to eliminate the only Black-majority district that has existed in the state since Reconstruction. In response, Black legislators and community members fought back with a protest and sit-in at the Tennessee capitol building in Nashville in May, McDaniels said.

Dr. Dorothy Nairne, one of the plaintiffs in the Callais case, joined the program over Zoom to share more about the fight against Black voter suppression in her home state of Louisiana. Nairne has seen the Black population in Louisiana growing over the past decade, reaching two-thirds of the state population, often in territories where Black people were once held as slaves, she said.

“If we are two-thirds of the state, that means we should have two districts that have the chance to vote for the person of our choice,” Nairne said.

Louisiana is ranked worst in the country on many metrics, including incarceration, air quality and economic opportunities, all of which affect the Black population at higher rates, she said.

“Our lives are on the line in Louisiana,” she said. “We need some change here. When we vote and we have a candidate that supports us and a candidate that looks like us, things can change.”

Reverend Patricia Williams spoke next, connecting the struggle to defend voting rights with the fight for community control of the police in Chicago. Williams is a co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and has lived in Chicago for over 60 years.

“The Proud Boys and hate groups are on the police force,” Williams said. “We don’t know when our children go out the door if they’re going to get back in. We have to vote. We have to have power over our communities and power over the police.”

To close, FRSO member Kobi Guillory presented on how the struggle to defend voting rights connects to Freedom Road’s strategy for revolution. A core issue is Black political power and self-determination for the African American nation, he said.

“There is a tiny group of people called monopoly capitalists who steal from the majority of the world,” Guillory said. “Our strategy is to unite everyone who can be united against the monopoly capitalists.”

A crucial part of that united front is the African American nation, he said. FRSO understands a nation to be a stable, historically constituted group of people with a common language, territory, economic base and culture, which describes Black people in the U.S. South.

Just like in a marriage, if one party doesn’t have the agency to separate, the relationship is not free and equal, Guillory said. “FRSO supports full equality and self-determination for the Black nation, up to and including secession.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #VotingRights #PeplesStruggles #CAARPR

He was part of the Midnight Crew, a group of detectives led by Commander Jon Burge from the 1970s to the 1990s. The city of Chicago officially recognizes that they systematically tortured more than 125 mostly young Black men to make false confessions, which led to wrongful convictions and death sentences. The number of survivors of torture, recognized by the Illinois Torture Commission, is over 400.

Johnny Plummer is one of the men Boudreau tortured who is still in prison. He was 15 years old in 1991 when he confessed to a crime he didn’t commit after being beaten and denied permission to see his mother.

Finally, evidence (which Plummer has testified to for the past 35 years) has surfaced. The record of the medical intake from the day he was transferred from police custody to juvenile detention showed up in a routine file review. It proves that a doctor recorded Plummer’s report of beatings and a forced confession.

At a hearing in June, Judge Tyria B. Walton declared she thinks that a Brady violation occurred. A Brady violation is when prosecutors fail to disclose impeaching evidence to the defense. A Brady claim requires three things: first, evidence favorable to the accused because it tends to prove innocence; second, the prosecution suppressed or failed to turn over the evidence; and third, there is reason to think that the outcome of the trial would have been different.

Given the seriousness of this moment, justice should require that the offending police detective be summoned to court at the earliest moment. He was scheduled to appear on Thursday, August 6, but that morning, the judge allowed him to avoid appearing in the courtroom.

Jasmine Smith is with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), where she helps lead the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST). When told the hearing was canceled because Boudreau didn’t show up, she was outraged, “He was called to testify by a judge; he shouldn’t be able to cancel like that.”

With pressure from organizers in CAARPR and the CFIST campaign, and due to the ceaseless efforts of Johnny Plummer, his family, and his attorneys, there will be another day in court for Beaudreau.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #Torture #CAARPR #CFIST #Feature