DNC protesters lining up city permits now to ensure leaders ‘can see us and hear us’
Organizers say early preparations are meant to avoid the obstacles they faced under Mayor Rahm Emanuel ahead of the 2012 NATO Summit, but they expect a friendlier reception from Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.
Joe Iosbaker, labor co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and other activists on Wednesday announced their plans to march during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The Democratic National Convention isn’t coming to Chicago for another 16 months, but activist groups already are laying the groundwork for massive demonstrations across the city.
Leaders of numerous progressive groups banding together as the Coalition to March on the DNC said Wednesday they’re lining up city permits now for protests aiming to bring thousands “within sight and sound” of the party honchos in town to re-nominate President Joe Biden in the 2024 election.
Organizers say the early preparations are intended to avoid the obstacles they met in obtaining approvals from former Mayor Rahm Emanuel administration ahead of the 2012 NATO Summit — not that they’re expecting nearly as much pushback from Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, a longtime Chicago Teachers Union organizer.
“Our new mayor comes out of protest movements, but nonetheless, we need to insist on our right to march not only in some parts of town but to the place where the convention-goers, the national leadership of the Democratic Party, can see us and hear us,” coalition organizer Joe Iosbaker said during a Loop news conference.
Protesters also want to get the word out early to attract activists nationwide to Chicago, where about 12,000 people rallied a decade ago outside the NATO summit at McCormick Place. Iosbaker said the “prospects are tremendous” for an even larger activist presence next August.
Their DNC demonstration may look similar, with a large rally in Grant Park followed by marches through the Loop — but their message will be broader than the anti-war theme that defined the 2012 protests.
Activist groups planning demonstrations in Chicago during next year’s Democratic National Convention held a news conference on Federal Plaza Wednesday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Groups in the coalition say their “People’s Agenda” includes LGBTQ and abortion rights, immigration reform and unionization, all with an overarching focus on “racist policing,” according to Iosbaker.
“For too long, it has been assumed that Black people by default vote Democrat,” said Amika Tendaji of Black Lives Matter-Chicago. “That party has not protected our young people from being shot by the police. It has not protected us from police brutality. It has not protected or prioritized the safety of Black women and girls. It has not protected or prioritized the safety of Black trans women — and so we will protest until we can get a party that will actually protect Black lives.”
Biden called Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week to inform him Chicago was his pick to host the DNC next Aug. 19-22. The city’s first convention since 1996 is projected to draw 50,000 visitors.
Party leaders haven’t yet released many details on convention plans. Primetime events will be held at the United Center, with daytime business conducted at McCormick Place.
“Wherever it is, we want to march there,” Iosbaker said. “We want to put on display for the country that Chicago is having a new day, and we want to invite everybody in the movements around the country to come and add their voices together with us.”
Sneed is told President Joe Biden was actually warned a year and a half ago by a top top Dem pollster that his re-election was in the doghouse with young voters. Gov. J.B. Pritzker was being urged to run in a primary in case Biden pulled the plug.
Teams fanned out around the United Center and McCormick Place on Friday distributing flyers to explain the security perimeter zones that begin as early as Aug. 16.
The up-and-coming Chicago artist’s major commission in East Garfield Park is one of seven projects tied to the city’s moment in the national political spotlight.
From reminders of the hurdles they’ve had to overcome to confidence in Harris’ ability to lead, these delegates describe what the vice president’s nomination means to them.
The courtroom at the Area 3 police station at Belmont and Western will be staffed from 8 a.m. to midnight during the week of the convention, which begins Aug. 19.
The Sun-Times first reported the Harris campaign called Pritzker Wednesday about the possibility of serving as her running mate, but the Illinois governor told reporters that Harris’ campaign “did not call me yesterday.” The Sun-Times stands by its story.
The maps designate two separate perimeters around the United Center and McCormick Place, where Democratic delegates will respectively meet to coronate the party’s presidential nominee and conduct party business
The Democratic National Convention takes place Aug. 19-22, but street closings and public transit detours begin days earlier — and the sprucing up is already underway. “It’s b—----- because it took [the convention] for them to fix it up,” said Henry Horner Homes resident Tracy Johnson of the improvements.
The vice president is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., a Black Greek-letter organization. Her more than 300,000 “sorors” plan to play a large role in the November presidential election.
The department got a black eye over how it dealt with protests following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. And the images of cops beating demonstrators with batons during the Democratic convention in 1968 are still seared into the national consciousness.
Harris’ campaign called the governor to discuss the No. 2 spot on Wednesday, a source told the Sun-Times. “I’d be reluctant to make a change, but it’d be hard to resist a call and consideration if the nominee called me to ask to be considered for vice president,” Pritzker said on CNN.
The goal is for the nominee to be selected by Aug.7 in order to lock in access to ballots in every state by not waiting for the Democratic convention in Chicago running Aug. 19-22.
The rally in West Allis, just outside Milwaukee, came a day after the vice president earned the support of enough delegates to secure the nomination, which is expected to come formally in early August via a virtual roll call.
“They’re going to do everything they can to turn the American people against her,” former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun told the Sun-Times. “There are a lot of people out there who don’t like the idea of a woman telling them what to do.”
Individual members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — whose headquarters are in Chicago — have begun mobilizing in masses to support their “soror” in the historic race for president.
Some major donors signaled their distress about Biden staying in the race by declining to write more checks or host events. That concern dissolved within hours of Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic 2024 nominee, with no rival coming forward.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who had been on short lists as a potential replacement for President Joe Biden, said Monday morning he had spoken to Harris and told her the president’s decision “came as a genuine surprise.”
The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out Donald Trump’s many falsehoods.
The fundraiser will be at the home of a family friend on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The campaign has at least 10 other fundraising events over the last 10 days of July.
Martez Cristler and Nicholas Virgil were charged with murder and aggravated arson, Chicago police said. Anthony Moore was charged with fraud and forgery in connection with the fatal West Pullman house fire that killed Pelt.
“In terms of that, it kind of just is what it is right now,” Crochet said pregame. “I’m focused on pitching for the White Sox, and beyond that, I’m not really controlling much.”
Taking away guns from people served with domestic violence orders of protection would be a lot of work. “There aren’t enough sworn officers to carry out what’s being asked here,” Pritzker said.
