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2007 Events Jan
- June
Events from 2007
Events from 2006
ANSWER
Chicago
marches in 2007 Pride Parade
June 24 2007
Report by Scott
Palmer
June
24th marked the 38th anniversary of Chicago’s LGBT Pride Parade. This year’s parade was themed “United for
Equality” and was attended and celebrated by over 450,000 people.
The Chicago
chapter of the ANSWER Coalition marched this year in a contingent that
included the Gay Liberation Network, the Committee on Pilipino Issues, the
Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism and many others.
Activists in the contingent carried placards linking the war in
Iraq
to the struggle for equality at home.
A banner demanding “Full rights for LGBT people, immigrants, women and
all: Stop the war on Iraq
” was enthusiastically greeted by the crowds lining the parade route. Tens
of thousands of people joined in chants like “Civil rights are under
attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “Hey hey! Ho ho!
Homophobia’s got to go!”
ANSWER joined with others in the contingent in confronting and drowning out
the anti-gay bigotry encountered on one street corner lining the parade
route. Activists encircled the
small group of bigots and confronted them with militant chants like
“Bigots, bigots, bigots, gotta go.”
Pride marches occur annually in the month of June. This year ANSWER
activists also joined in marches all around the country. The Pride Parade
tradition began in 1969 after the Stonewall rebellion, which signaled the
beginning of a new militant activism on the part of the lesbian/gay/bi/trans
movement.
ANSWER
Chicago
also participated in Chicago’s Dyke March on Saturday, June 23. Over 500 marched through the streets
of the Andersonville neighborhood in Chicago
to demand equality and an end to repression.
May
18 2007
Protest Against General Peter Pace
U.S. Out of Iraq! Stop
the Attacks on LGBT People, Immigrants and Women!
May
11 2007
International Day of Protest Against
Anti-Cuban Terrorist Luis Posada
Over 40 come out for speak out in
Chicago. To read International Reports
click here.

May
1, 2007
Massive
March for Immigrant Rights in Chicago
Protestors descend on city center to resist government attacks
On May 1 in Chicago
over 300,000 people marched on downtown for immigrant rights. Immigrant
workers and their supporters
demanded an end to the wave of recent mass raids and deportations. The sea
of protestors marched for immediate and full legalization for all
immigrants.
Thousands of students
walked out and missed school to join the march. Latino-owned businesses shut
down for the day. For the second year in a row, the immigrant rights May 1
action shut down the city in the middle of the day.
May 1 saw a huge outpouring
from the Latino Community. There were also contingents of Arab and
Muslim immigrants, Asian immigrants, African immigrants, Irish immigrants,
Polish immigrants and many others.
Hundreds of community
and social justice organizations joined the march.
On May 1 there were
hundreds of actions for immigrant rights in cities large and small all
across the
U.S., including
Los Angeles, San Francisco
and New York.
In a powerful show of unity
three large feeder marches joined at Union Park for a massive march through
the city. The feeder marches came from Adalberto
United
Methodist
Church, Little Villlage and Haymarket
Square.
Adalberto United Methodist
Church is where immigrant rights activist Elvira Arellano has taken sanctuary
to resist a Homeland Security deportation order. She is currently on a
hunger strike to stop the attacks on immigrants.
Unions rallied at Haymarket Square
in honor of May 1, international workers day. They then joined the main
march.
Little
Village was the scene of an April 24 Homeland Security raid. Hundreds of
heavily armed ICE agents conducted a military-style raid on a discount mall
in the middle of the day. Government agents indiscriminately forced people
to the ground and handcuffed everyone in the mall. Whole families were
shopping, eating at restaurants and visiting a medical clinic.
Little Village is in the
heart of the Mexican community in Chicago.
Shortly after the raid,
Little Village residents marched through the streets and blocked
intersections. Organization for the May 1 march escalated greatly after the raid.
Information about the march
was repeated on all major media outlets for days before the protest.
On May 1 crowds lined the
march and cheered all along the route. The protest marched first down
Washington, then onto Desplaines
and then down Jackson
towards Grant Park. A mass rally was held at Grant Park. At one point, a
group of construction workers at the top of a building held a piece of
plywood with a spray painted slogan: “Si se Puede!”
The most popular chant of
the day was: “Amnistia, Si! La Migra NO!”
The protest was organized
by the March 10th Movement and El Zocalo Urbano. ANSWER Chicago,
Act Now to Stop War & Racism, along with hundreds of other organizations
mobilized for May 1.
May 1 in Chicago
was a spirited and militant day of unity and resistance to the
government’s calculated offensive against immigrant workers.
April
28 2007
Socialism
Conference in Chicago Draws Militant Workers,
Youth & Students
Chicago Branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation
(PSL is a member of the ANSWER Coalition)
Over 70
people attended an April 28 Socialism Conference in Chicago. The conference,
entitled, “The Struggle for Revolutionary Change” was the first of its kind
held by the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Chicago.
Participants
were young and old and came from every community. The conference was held in
Albany Park, a working class community on the Northwest side of Chicago. The
highly multi-national community is made up of Latino, Arab, Filipino, Korean,
African-American, white workers and others.
The day
was filled with lots of discussion, passion and resolutions to struggle for
change. The conference opened with a rousing solidarity statement with May 1
immigrant rights marches.
Over the
day there were two plenary sessions and two sets of workshops.
Discussion
focuses on Ending War, Changing System
“If the
War on Iraq is a bad idea in 2008, why should our friends and family be sent to
kill and die there in 2007?” “Is
Socialist revolution possible in the United States?” “What lessons can we
learn from the experience of revolution in Cuba and the Soviet Union?” These
were just a few of the many questions that speakers and participants addressed
at the conference.
Stefanie
Fisher, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Chicago, chaired
the opening panel and led off the conference with an overview of current social
problems for workers and their roots in Capitalism.
Yenica
Cortes, a PSL member from New York then analyzed the struggles of immigrant
communities in the U.S. She talked about how the growth in immigration is caused
by an increasingly aggressive U.S. imperialism. She affirmed that the struggle
of immigrant workers is central to the struggle of workers against capitalist
exploitation here and abroad.
Eugene
Puryear, a Howard University student leader, discussed the relationship between
Black Liberation and Socialism. He explained that the liberation of workers in
the U.S. is impossible without militant support for the African-American
struggle against institutionalized racist violence of the capitalist system.
Ken Lurch,
National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 3825 talked about the war on
workers and how it is directly related to the war on the Iraqi people
Brian
Becker, the National Coordinator of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, was the keynote
speaker of the event. He spoke of the need for Socialism and building a
revolutionary Party that can lead the struggle of the U.S. multi-national
working class for emancipation in a time of crisis for the Capitalist system.
Following
the opening panel and discussion, the Conference broke into workshops. Party
members and friends presented workshops on such issues as U.S. Imperialism in
the Middle East and East Africa; the importance of the Cuban and Venezuelan
experience to socialism; how capitalism promotes racism, sexism, and homophobia;
and a historical analysis of socialist development in the Soviet Union. Each
workshop was structured around discussion. Participants engaged in the workshops
with extensive questions and comments.
The
Conference concluded with a closing panel of speakers. Speakers included Preston
Wood, Los Angeles member of the PSL, discussing recent events concerning Cuba
and how they impact the workers’ struggle in the U.S.; John Beacham, ANSWER
Chicago Coordinator, on why a Socialist Revolution is possible in the U.S.; and
Heather Beneno, PSL member in Chicago, addressing why the workers’ struggle
requires a Marxist-Leninst Party. Yoani Mendoza, a member of the PSL in Chicago,
chaired the closing plenary.
Mass
Outreach to Workers in the Name of Socialism Key to Conference Success
The
Socialism Conference in Chicago reflected over a month of intense preparation
and outreach. PSL members in Chicago organized themselves into outreach teams,
and distributed tens of thousands of stickers, flyers and posters all over the
city. Party members also attended many local functions to promote the event.
The PSL
organizes conferences like the one in Chicago to reach out to people who want to
fight against Capitalism. We want to reach out to people and promote the
struggle for revolutionary change and Socialism as the only alternative to the
unending battles of the working class for justice and equality.
The Albany
Park neighborhood was literally covered in outreach materials for the
conference. Many people, far beyond the number of people who were able to
attend, responded favorably to literature promoting Socialism.
The
conference was aided by the Leftist Lounge Chicago, which loaned the Conference
paintings to display as part of an exhibit of revolutionary women of color.
One
attendee described feeling “incredibly powerful” as she left the Conference
after having participated in the panel discussions and the workshops. The Party
for Socialism and Liberation plans to follow-up the conference with an intensive
educational series on Lenin’s “State and Revolution” on May 19, 20 and 23.
For more information call 773-920-7590.
Tuesday March
20, 2007
5,000 March on Michigan Ave. to Stop the
Iraq War
On
the 4th Anniversary of the Iraq War, over 5,000 people from all communities came
together to march on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Demonstrators demanded an immediate end
to the war and occupation. The
ranks of the march were filled with youth and students and many first time
protestors. Their energy and militancy
spread throughout the march and helped to make the action a powerful show of
resistance to
the warmongers in Washington D.C. Hundreds
of students walked out of class earlier in the day to protest the war. The march was led
by anti-war soldiers and their families. Over 100 organizations helped build the
demonstration, including the ANSWER Coalition in Chicago. In the month before
the march, ANSWER volunteers handed
out 30,000 leaflets and distributed thousands of stickers and posters to
promote the protest. The
protest received widespread coverage in the local media. To read and see the
coverage click on the links below. ANSWER
Chicago organized a contingent with large anti-war banners, Iraqi &
Palestinian Flags and placards that said, "U.S. Out of Iraq! Stop the War
Machine!" The most popular chant was, "No Justice, No Peace! U.S. Out
of the Middle East!" Over a hundred people, mostly young, joined the ANSWER
contingent at its height. The contingent expressed solidarity with the people of the Middle East
and around the world who are fighting against U.S. dominance. Heather
Beneno, an organizer with ANSWER Chicago, said, "Tonight's march in Chicago, the
March 17 March on the Pentagon and all the other recent marches
around the country and around the world against the Iraq War are a sign
of what is to come. People are fed up with the aggression and the lies and the hundreds
of billions of dollars being spent on this murderous war on the Iraqi people. Young people
made a strong showing at all the recent demonstrations. They will be the
driving force behind a people's movement in the U.S. that will not stop
until the war machine is shut down." To
get involved, help organize a militant movement for lasting change and help stop the war call
773-463-0311.
abclocal.go.com/wls/story,
wgntv.trb.com,
video.nbc5.com/player/,
30962
(at) wbbm.dayport.com
Sat
March 17, 2007
Tens
of Thousands March on the Pentagon
Riot Police Block Buses and Deny
Access to People Coming to the Demonstration
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On the way to the Pentagon,
March
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Congratulations to everyone who made it through the
snow and freezing rain to get to Washington and join together in the tens of
thousands and March on the Pentagon!
Led by a contingent of Iraq war veterans,
active-duty service-members, Gold Star families, and veterans from other past
and present wars, the demonstration received a large amount of media coverage.
CNN has featured the demonstration, which the report described as a march of
tens of thousands, in its rotation since yesterday. The major French newspaper,
Le Monde, ran a significant article under the headline, "More than 50,000
People Protest Against the War in Iraq," about the March on the Pentagon as
the U.S. component of the world-wide protests marking the beginning of the fifth
year of the war against Iraq. The rally was broadcast live on C-span and Al-Jazeera
and received wide-spread media coverage. C-span will be replaying the rally,
check http://www.cspan.org/
for times.
The March on the Pentagon was not a solitary
action but one of more than 1,000 protests that will take place in the U.S.
between March 17 and March 20. In Los Angeles , the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
called a demonstration that drew 50,000. Maxine Waters was one of many speakers
and music was provided by renowned Ozomatli, Jackson Browne and Ben Harper.
The ANSWER demonstration on March 18 in San
Francisco drew 40,000 protesters and filled 15 blocks of Market Street, a
six-lane avenue.
The March on the Pentagon took place the day
after a severe winter snow and sleet storm suddenly hit northeastern states that
prevented many buses from traveling, 700 fights from taking off, and thousands
of cars from reaching the March. Motorists were advised throughout New England
and the Mid-Atlantic region to stay off the road. The large turnout at the
demonstration was all the more significant given the hardships people had to
endure to participate in the activity. People marched to the Pentagon and stayed
as long as they could braving 20 mile-an-hour winds and a windchill factor into
the teens.
A great thank you is owed to the committed
volunteers who endured a torrential downpour of freezing rain though Friday
night to help set up the assembly and rally sites. People stayed overnight with
the equipment and then began working again at 5:00 am in complete darkness. The
assembly area had become a lake on March 16 and filled with mud by the time the
march stepped off. The windchill in the early
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The front banner for the March on the Pentagon
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hours was not far above zero. At the rally
site the large tents and canopies blew down. Volunteers continued to work long
hours after the rally ended to take-down, pack, clean the entire area and unload
trucks. The anti-war movement is growing both numerically and its organizational
capability and the tireless work of volunteers forms the core of this success.
The lead banner of the march demanding US Out of
Iraq Now was carried by Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, Jonathan Hutto
co-founder of Appeal for Redress, Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of the Muslim
American Society Freedom Foundation, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and
youth and students in the anti-war movement.
Pentagon Prevents Immortal Technique and
Others from Joining the Rally
The Pentagon and Virginia State Police, many
clad in riot gear, wearing gas masks and wielding batons, blocked people coming
from the subway/metro who wanted to attend the demonstration. They also blocked
buses from accessing the Pentagon in contravention of the agreements
reached in the permit. This required people to walk nearly two miles to get to
their buses following the rally.
Many people who came to the rally after it had begun - some who had seen
the huge march at a distance as it crossed over the Memorial Bridge across the
roadways and wanted to then join the activity - were blocked by the Pentagon and
the police from entering the rally site through a maze of misdirection, road
closures and threats of arrest at multiple different locations. The ANSWER
Coalition worked to get people in, and ANSWER organizers and our attorneys
went to the site of sudden police confrontations and shutdowns, but many people
were still unable to get in including the hip-hop artist Immortal Technique who
was scheduled to perform.
Like so many other people, the hip-hop artist
Immortal Technique's travel plans to get to the demonstration, seemed so
daunting as to be virtually impossible. But due to his determination and his
resourcefulness, he found a way to overcome cancelled flights and frozen roads.
Although he rebooked flights in order to land in North Carolina, personally
rented a car and drove it to Washington D.C., the Pentagon and law enforcement
blocked him from coming into the rally where he was going to perform. We urge
everyone to read Immortal Technique's compelling account -- which is both a
narrative and a political commentary. Immortal Technique's message below should
be read and circulated to your e-mail address book and to e-mail lists
everywhere.
Message from Immortal Technique:
"First
and foremost I would like to congratulate the organizers of ANSWER and in
specific Brian, Amelia, Peta, and Sarah and the many others who reached out to
me and who I saw make a powerful statement today. I am not a big fan of marches
and rallies because I have always believed that the system must be attacked
economically above all. But, if coordinated well, they can effect change and
remind people that this war is still costing lives and no matter who the father
of Anna Nicole's Baby is or who wins the next season of American Idoll
or what new song is on the radio, people are dying, both from this country and
in massive numbers in the Iraqi Civil War. March 17th, even with all the
problems we faced, was a success in reminding people of the insurmountable
evidence of corruption, self righteous moral depravity, and dishonesty present
within our government... Because we have issue with the administration we should
not be painted as people who despise their country. If I am not pleased with a
book I read or a movie I watch that doesn't mean I hate the concept of film in
general or that I take issue with printed literature on a whole. The
administration presently tries to attach itself to the idea of America as if
they were the far right standard by which all should be judged by as Americans.
This White House after all just concerns itself with the well being of its stock
holders, make-shift praetorian guard of politicians and political contributors. Click
to see the rest of Immortal Technique's message.
March 10
Benefit for Students Scholarships to March 17 March
on Pentagon
Heather Beneno, ANSWER Chicago
On
March 10, a crowd of fifty people attended a rousing ANSWER benefit entitled
“Why I am Marching on the Pentagon.”
The proceeds raised at the benefit went to fund student scholarships
to attend the March 17th March on the Pentagon.
The agenda was filled with speakers,
musicians and other performers. Speakers
presented on why they were marching on the Pentagon.
Speakers included:
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Yoani
Me
ndoza, ANSWER Organizer
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Riko
Rosete, Committee on Pilipino Issues
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Liz Lazdins, World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime
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Andy
Thayer, Gay Liberation Network, M20 Coalition Against the War
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John
Beacham, ANSWER Coordinator
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Stephanie
Mitchell, Chicago State Student
Heather Beneno, an ANSWER organizer,
chaired the benefit and spoke on why people from the Middle East are
marching on the Pentagon to stop the War on
Iraq
.
The benefit was a lively display of
solidarity against war, occupation and imperialism.
A.J. Viola, a local poet and photographer, presented a poem on why
she was marching on the Pentagon. Agents
of Change also performed a musical set.
The evening concluded with an open mike
session. Attendees used the open
mike to show their solidarity with the anti-war effort.
February
22
International Women’s Forum
packs ANSWER Chicago
office
Report by Heather
Beneno
Fight Sexism and Racism!
On Thursday, February 22, 2007, ANSWER Chicago
hosted a Forum entitled “Women in Struggle: Fight Sexism and Racism!”
The event featured a diverse array of speakers and concluded with lively
discussion. A main theme of the meeting was solidarity with the struggle of
immigrant women.
The Women’s Forum was chaired by Jacqui Scott, an ANSWER
organizer. She started the evening by recounting the history of International
Women’s Day, March 8.
The first speaker was Stephanie Mitchell who gave an update on the U.S.
government’s attacks on African-American revolutionary Assata Shakur.
Heather Beneno of the Party for Socialism and Liberation
spoke on the struggles of Iraqi and Palestinian women. Mathilda De Dios, an
activist with the Committee on Pilipino Issues, followed with a talk on the
struggles of Pilipino women who immigrate from the
Philippines
to the U.S.
Finally,
Chicago
organizer of the March on the Pentagon Stefanie Beacham related the
struggle of women to the importance of the upcoming March in Washington
DC.
The talks provoked a lively discussion. Comments
ranged from stories of Palestinian resistance in Gaza, to expressions of solidarity with women all over the world who are
fighting occupation. Participants vowed to unite the struggle for women’s
liberation with the anti-war struggle and all other people’s struggle on
the steps of the Pentagon on March 17 in Washington
DC.
Report
from January 27, 2007 March on Congress
Stephanie Mitchell and Stefanie Beacham, ANSWER Chicago
ANSWER
Coalition activists from Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, New Haven,
Conn., Reno, NV and San Francisco participated in the January 27 March on
Congress to end the War in
Iraq
. Estimates vary, but well over 100,000 people marched in the demonstration.
It was a strong and broad outpouring of opposition to the war. Thousands of young
people traveled from all over the country to flood the streets of the
Capitol and build resistance to the war.
Starting in
the early morning and going into the late afternoon, ANSWER activists formed
outreach teams to spread the word about the upcoming
March 17 March on the Pentagon on the 4th Anniversary of the Iraq War.
Volunteers worked all week to prepare thousands of placards and banners.
Tens of thousands of flyers, stickers and buttons were distributed for the
Pentagon protest by over a hundred experienced and new volunteers. Feelings
about ending the war were so deep that dozens of people volunteered, on the
spot, to help pass out stickers and other materials. Enthusiasm for the
March on the Pentagon was widespread with many people wanting more
information on how to organize in their cities and communities for the
upcoming march.
ANSWER
Coalition
volunteers marched in a lively and militant contingent. The contingent chanted
"Black, Latino, Arab, Asian and White; No more, no more racist war, defend
our civil rights!" and "They say get back! we say fight back! They
say more war! We say no war!" Hundreds of people joined the contingent
lead by Youth & Student ANSWER.
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