Past Events May - June 2006
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June 25
ANSWER Chicago participates in LGBT Pride March

On Sunday, June 25 ANSWER Chicago marched in the LGBT Pride parade in Chicago with a banner reading: "Full Rights for LGBT People, Immigrants, Women & ALL! Stop the War On Iraq!"

The ANSWER Contingent was well received. Chants of "Equal Rights Now!" & "We Want Money for Jobs and Education; Not for War & Occupation!" were picked up and repeated by people all along the march route.

The ANSWER Coalition is fully committed to the fight for LGBT Equality and Same Sex Marriage Rights. To find out more information about getting involved call 773-463-0311.

May 22 Emergency Protest against Bush Visit to Chicago
Stop the War on Iraq! Stop Criminalizing Immigrants!
On the morning of Monday, May 22 President Bush tried to sneak in and out of town for a speech to defend the war in Iraq. On very short notice 50 people gathered for a spirited protest at McCormick Place in Chicago. The protest received wide media coverage, including CBS, ABC, NBC, WGN and WBBN. People chanted continuously for over two hours and held up signs reading, "George Bush: War Criminal!" "U.S. Out of Iraq!" & "Full Rights for Immigrants!"  

May 17 National Day of Action for Immigrant Rights
Emergency Picket - Federal Plaza, Chicago
Stop the Militarization of the Border!
Full Rights for All Immigrants! AMNESTY NOW!

May 13, 2006
All People's Forum to Defeat Anti-Immigrant Racism and Endless War 

May 1, 2006 - Immigrant Rights NOW!
Millions Boycott Nationwide
1 Million Demonstrate in Chicago!

On Monday, May 1 millions of immigrants and their supporters took to the streets and shut down businesses to demand equality and to fight back against anti-immigrant racism. All over the U.S., in hundreds of cities large and small, the people spoke in a loud and unified voice of resistance. May 1, 2006 was the biggest coordinated day of protest in the history of the United States.

It is hard to tell exactly how many millions of people participated in the pro-immigrant activities of May 1, 2006. But it is clear that the mainstream media figure of 1 to 1.5 million is extremely low. In Chicago and Los Angeles alone we estimate that well over 2 million people marched in massive demonstrations. On May 1, most large cities in the U.S. had major protests in the tens of thousands or in the hundreds of thousands. Many smaller cities had marches of thousands of people. May 1 was a huge success!

On May 1 in Chicago the downtown streets were flooded with a sea of people enthusiastically marching together to make change. Led by a fully mobilized Latino community, every community, religion, union and progressive organization was represented by a large and vibrant contingent. The most popular chants of the day were for immediate Amnesty and Legalization. Chants of "¡No somos uno, no somos cien, somos milliones, cuentanos bien!" ("We're not one, we're not one hundred, we're millions, count us well!") were repeated forcefully throughout the day.

Immigrant workers - discriminated against and mistreated by a deeply unequal system - are leading the struggle against the current ruling class assault on all working people. Treated as second class citizens in the U.S., immigrants are risking much to stand up to the powerful corporate elite, the big-business media and Washington D.C. This determined show of force for justice and dignity is a very positive development in our common struggle for the jobs, social services and rights we all need.

Education, health care, wages, rights, unions, civil liberties and more are under increasing attack. The government continues to pursue a policy of completely dismantling social programs as the corporations swim in profits. The elite in Washington are spending 100s of billions on an endless war for colonies, domination and profits. We believe the best way to bring relief from this calculated offensive, and to ultimately turn the tide, is to help build and independent movement of people's fight back. As conditions for immigrants and all working people continue to worsen and as the billionaires continue to foster a climate of racism and reaction, struggle will continue to spread. 

In the days ahead, linking arms and fighting together for full equality and amnesty for all immigrants will be a great aid to all workers, undocumented and documented. We are the vast majority and united with the struggle of our immigrant sisters and brothers we can be a formidable force for change!

To get involved with ANSWER Chicago and help build a people's movement to defeat war, racism and all forms of oppression call 773-463-0311 or email answer@chicagoanswer.net.

Thursday, April 13
Volunteers from Committee on Pilipino Issues & ANSWER Chicago paint a banner that reads, "AMNESTY NOW: Full Rights for All Immigrants" for a Contingent in May 1 March for Immigrant Rights

More 2006 Events