Category: social issues

Chicago Is Ready To Resist

Chicago Sun-Times:

Mayor Brandon Johnson urged Chicagoans to “rise up in this moment” against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort, even as he acknowledged Wednesday that the deployment of the military to help carry out immigration raids in Los Angeles could happen here.

Johnson refused to say precisely what he would do if mass demonstrations in Chicago — perhaps as soon as Saturday’s “No Kings Day of Defiance” protests — provoke an L.A.-style federal response.

The mayor would only say that he is concerned enough to have spoken directly with Gov. JB Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle about the possibility that Trump might activate the Illinois National Guard to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents making arrests.

“This is a necessary fight for all of us to be able to push back. Whether we use the courts or whether we continue to protest and raise our voices, dissent matters in this moment,” the mayor said at his weekly City Hall news conference.

“It’s a war on our culture. It’s a war on our democracy. It’s a war on our humanity. I am counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment because, whatever particular vulnerable group is being targeted today, another group will be next. … None of us are immune from this disease.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, shown here at a public appearance June 4, used some of his strongest rhetoric yet Wednesday against President Donald Trump and the White House’s deportation-raid efforts. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Saturday’s protests have the potential to be even larger than Tuesday’s demonstrations in the Loop.

Johnson said the Chicago Police Department will preserve the right of demonstrators to peacefully assemble and protest, just as it did during the Democratic National Convention, but lawbreaking will not be tolerated.

“Our first responsibility is to ensure that we keep everyone safe. That is my No. 1 responsibility. It’s what I think about every day, all day. Our approach won’t be that much different on Saturday,” Johnson said. “The right to assemble peacefully is a constitutional right. We have to protect that. There are some actors that, unfortunately, act outside of their constitutional protection. If that were to take place, those individuals will be held responsible and accountable.”

Apparently referring to the violence and vandalism that occurred in parts of Los Angeles during anti-ICE demonstrations there, Johnson said when a “small number of protesters set things on fire, it plays into the hand of authoritarians like Donald Trump, who take advantage to ultimately suppress all protesters.

“What we have seen in Los Angeles is really not about immigration. This is not about policy. It’s about power. We have a tyrant in the White House who has a complete disregard for our Constitution and the dismissing of our democracy,” the mayor said. “This is a terrible moment in our nation’s history. … He continues to show how low he will stoop. … It is sick and demented. I didn’t know you could look worse than George Wallace.”

Johnson’s chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, warned that the escalatory tactics the Trump administration has used in Los Angeles could happen in Chicago.

“Yesterday, the notice was given … to federal agents that they have 48 hours to stand by and be ready to deploy — that there will be five cities that are targeted. Democratic-led cities,” Pacione-Zayas said. “Chicago being one of them for sure, and that they were going to be targeting workplaces in terms of the raids.”

Pacione-Zayas added: “There will be tactical teams. There will be mini-tanks. There will be other tools that they use in which they plan to do raids, as we saw in Los Angeles. That information is actually pretty public. It has been out there and, in fact, on official channels.”

Johnson’s deputy mayor for community safety, Garien Gatewood, was among those out on the street monitoring demonstrations in the Loop on Tuesday against Trump’s immigration raids. During the protests, a motorist drove toward a group of protesters and struck one of the demonstrators.

“Nobody, obviously, expects someone to do what they did yesterday. So we’ll make improvements on that,” Gatewood said. “We already had a meeting this morning with some of our team on additional resources we’ll need in place. We’ve been in contact directly with the governor’s office about some of the support they can provide, as well.”

Johnson said he is grateful that “in the midst of this effort by the Trump administration to create chaos, that we were able to get through yesterday without mass arrests or life-altering harm” to police or demonstrators.

The mayor’s remarks signaled some of his strongest rhetoric yet denouncing the president’s stepped-up immigration raids. Johnson added that he considers it “grotesque” that Trump is using the armed forces to celebrate his 79th birthday by holding a military parade Saturday, which also is the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

Today, there were way more people on the streets than it was anticipated; I had a commitment close to home and could not join them, but I already changed my escorting shift on Saturday so that I could join the rally on the Daley Plaza.

“Great Migrations: People on the Move”

I watched this four-part documentary a while ago and wanted to mention it. It was streaming on PBS, but now you need to subscribe to watch it. I spent a lot of time trying to embed at least some clips, but failed, so I can only share a link to the whole project.

It’s exceptionally interesting and informative, and as I keep saying, even though I know a lot about Black history, this documentary revealed many things I didn’t know or didn’t understand. Although I feel strongly about “no subscriptions,” I subscribed to PBS Passport to watch these series. It’s still a donation to a good cause, not a Netflix subscription!

“It’s Basic” Documentary

I am on my way home from this event. I was half an hour late, but it was just the right time, as it turned out. The programming started approximately ten minutes after I arrived, and the panel after the screening was only 30 minutes long. After the “official part” was over, half of the audience rushed to the podium to talk with panelists, and I decided I did not want to stand in their way.

I loved the documentary; I cried several times. I am a firm believer in basic income, and I do not need any convincing, but it was great to hear about true stories, scientific analysis of the results, and about what’s next.

One thing that concerns me about this initiative and others like it is the randomness and small size of the groups of people who can benefit. It feels like one extra piece in the boundless mosaic of human services, and when I think about how I would like it to evolve, I would say this program should be as universal as possible.

On another topic: the Green Line was delayed several times both inbound and outbound, but I was able to ignore the surroundings and do something productive on the train.

I am super tired of everything which is happening in my life (including work), but there are things I can’t drop, no matter what.

My main reason to attend was the panelists:

  • Toni Preckwinkle, President, Cook County Board of Commissioners
  • Mayor Michael Tubbs, Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility; “It’s Basic” Film Executive Producer
  • Margaret M.C. Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Time Magazine:The Dating Wealth Gap

Time Magazine article The Dating Wealth Gap is Getting Wider talks not about the “gap in wealth” between two people dating, but more precisely, about situations when women make significantly more than men. That reminded me of how I recently saw a discussion about DEI where people said, “Well, nobody would object if the wife brings home an extra 30% of the income.” When I saw this comment, I thought: that has nothing to do with women’s equality! I wonder how you would feel in a relationship when a woman makes four or five times more than her partner! Or even fifteen times more. If everyone feels comfortable in this situation, we can discuss equality!

Continue reading “Time Magazine:The Dating Wealth Gap” →

Tips for Black History Month- 2025 Emergency Edition

a must-read.

Tips for Black History Month- 2025 Emergency Edition

What’s Happening At Home

I came back last night, and now I am heading to work. (And I will probably finish this post after my workday). For those wondering why I didn’t mention anything happening at home and whether I’ve shut myself off from all the news, I didn’t. I was closely following the news. I just do not see much point in expressing my outrage without being able to do anything constructive.
When I stopped by my neighbor’s to pick up my mail for the past two weeks, she told me that she opted not to listen to the news for these two weeks, because “she didn’t want to get upset.” That’s not for me either. I need to be informed, and I need to make informed decisions.

During the past two weeks, many not-for-profit organizations where I am a donor or a member sent emails to inform me about the staff cuts and/or program closures. One of the most upsetting was the closing of four clinics of Planned Parenthood in Illinois. These announcements make me think about whether I should re-distribute my donations, which I already planned for that year, but I haven’t made any significant changes yet.

Today was a quarterly meeting of the Howard-Evanston CC Community Board which I am a member, and the agenda looked different from what was emailed to us ten days ago. All of us were focused on the report about the readiness to resist the ICE raids and protect both program participants and staff. I was happy to learn that we have counsel available to interfere with ICE during the raids and a law firm that can provide free services when needed. However, no matter how many times during the meeting the HECC Director repeated that we need to focus on providing services to our clients, it was difficult to focus on the future and to look at it with certainty.

We will try our best, and it feels good to see how many people think that way!

One More Time Magazine Article: Immigration Playbook

One of many good articles I saw recently: Democrats Need a New Immigrant Playbook. The fact that most new immigrants tend to be more conservative is well-known, and I was wondering why it has been so widely ignored. My co-worker who came to the US a while ago from Venezuela told me right away: these are the worst of our people; I do not want to see them here.

The full text is under the cut.

Continue reading “One More Time Magazine Article: Immigration Playbook” →

More DNC Follow-up

Igor was at Union Park on the last day of the DNC and took lots of pictures. Usually, I post the link to his album and also post selected photos in my blog, but this time, I do not want to post any. Here is a link you can check out. And if you click it, you’ll probably realize why there are no pictures here.

I always strive to present an objective picture, and this time, an objective picture is not appealing: I do not want to multiply any Palestinian propaganda here. If you do not see these people and their posters, you might think there is some truth in what they say. But if you just take a look, there will be no mistake. That proves my point that these days, anybody who agitates people against Harris is an enemy of good. I do not know how else to put it – it literally means that this individual is on the dark side of things. And since I know that Igor captures such events with all possible objectivity, I can tell that there were way more supporters of the Palestinian extremists than anybody else. Ukrainians and their supporters, pro-choice activists and pro-life activists, communists, and socialists, all of them combined, made a lesser crowd than pro-Palestinian protesters. And I can’t get over it.

On a separate (but still DNC-related) topic, there were lots of comments about “CTA has done a great job keeping the stations clean.” I do not disagree with that; it was hard not to notice the unusual cleanliness. However, the immediate questions are: 1) why does it have to be a convention to make this change? 2) what did it cost in terms of time, labor, etc? I do not like shows like this, and I genuinely want these questions to be answered.

DNC

My friend who lives on the West Side was planning to visit me the upcoming Saturday. We planned this day several months in advance: my schedule is busy, and it’s a long way to her. She uses paratransit, so she needed to arrange a ride. On Monday she texted me: sorry, I won’t be able to come. When we talked the next day I asked her what happened. She said: I know we planned this visit several months ago, and I know that it might mean I won’t see you for several more months, but the there will be protests because of the DNC.

I told her: wait, the DNC does not start until Monday. She though for a moment, and then said: I know for the fact, that there will be protests over the weekend. She continued: you know how they sometimes go wild, and if the car happen to be in the middle of it, they might encircle the car, and then the passengers will be in trouble, and I do not want to end up in jail. I paused for a moment to process and said: you are right. I have nothing to say.

I managed to find an alternative time for her visit, so we will see each other before fall, but it looks like the prevailing mood in Chicago for the next week is worry about what is going to happen. It’s sad, but not unjustified.

WTTW Event

On Wednesday, Igor and I attended one more WTTW event in the FIRSTHAND: Homeless series. This event was dedicated to the migrant crisis. I was extremely disappointed with it. I had to leave to return to my guests, but Igor stayed to talk to the participants., soI might have more updates from him when we talk. My disappointment was mostly because I do not think this event achieved its purpose.

The purpose, as I see it, was to make more people aware of migrants’ challenges: why things are so difficult for them, what obstacles they never thought about, and why they are fleeing their countries in the first place. None of these questions were answered. To be honest, I do not even think the documentary covered “homelessness” specifically. There are multiple (too many) challenges these people face, and my feeling was that the questions of getting work permits and enrolling kids in schools took preference, and the horrific housing crisis was sort of left on the back burner. (Waiting for Igor’s comments on that).