Apr 29

Apr 29 May Day

Chicago, Protest, Performance, Demonstrations

As the rain came down close to the 1:00 PM start time, about 100 people huddled in and around a couple of small tents set up in Chicago’s Union Park, located between the West Loop and the United Center. On the park’s periphery were bicycle cops, a number of squad cars, foot patrols, and a black SUV labeled City of Chicago Emergency Management, with two video cameras mounted on its rooftop.

Although we are still two days away from May 1—a day that the International Socialist Conference designated as International Workers’ Day—a plethora of activist groups had organized the gathering dubbed ”When We Fight We Win: March for May Day.” Among those present were The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Chicago Teachers Union, the SDS chapter active on UIC’s campus, the Latino Union of Chicago, at least one socialist group, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and groups promoting other causes including abortion rights, Black Lives Matter, LGBT rights, and immigration activists. Also on hand were CCHRP and Anakbayan Chicago, two groups that would be protesting later in the day outside the Philippine Consulate; their focus was on Monday’s White House visit by Philippine President Bongbong Marcos.

When I arrived, I asked one of the marshals whether there would be speeches, or whether this was just a march. With a slightly derisive tone in her voice, the marshal said to expect at least an hour of speeches—apparently less tolerable with the rain coming down.

At 1:15 PM, the speeches kicked off. Speakers were limited to two-minutes, with most honoring the limit, although a translator then repeated each speech in Spanish. As for substance, the speeches repeated the usual fare that I have heard dozen of times at left-leaning gatherings: workers rights, union success stories, systemic racism, unwarranted tax and other subsidies for billionaires, kids in cages at the border, censorship in schools, abortion rights, U.S. hegemony, nuclear annihilation, opposition to the war in Ukraine, Israel’s abuse of the Palestinians, and probably a few that I am forgetting from the laundry list of hot-button issues—this listing is not meant to be pejorative; it simply reflects the issues that concern many progressives. In between each speech, the organizers led the demonstrators in chants: “This is What Democracy Looks Like,” “Power to the People,” and “When We Fight We Win,” among others.

I am not surprised that the event was ignored by the mainstream media. There were only 125 to 150 demonstrators at the event’s peak. Moreover, this is a perennial gathering, so is it news? I saw no one from the Tribune or the Sun-Times present, nor did I see television cameras.

The assignment desks, however, made a big mistake. Two significant pieces of news came out of the event. The first pertains to Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson. The speaker from the Chicago Teachers Union indicated that she knew him well. The totality of her remarks suggested that there would be a close working relationship between the CTU and the Mayor-elect. Several other speakers also took credit for his victory, indicating that they looked forward to the changes he would bring.

I will be interested to see how these groups respond as Johnson inevitably fails to fulfill their overy-optimistic expectations. After all, Johnson is taking control of an aircraft carrier; as we all know, large vessels do not turn on a dime. Ninety percent of governing is blocking and tackling—CTA buses and trains running on time, scheduling events in Grant Park so they don’t conflict (the Taste of Chicago and the NASCAR race recent snafu comes to mind), filling potholes, avoiding traffic snarls, and paying or refinancing municipal debt when it comes due.

Johnson’s ambitious plans will only be viable if he addresses the hollowing out of the Loop and the Mag Mile. Last week, the national press ran several exposes on downtown office markets. In San Francisco, one major office building may sell at an 80% discount. Chicago’s Willis Tower was among the buildings mentioned in one of the articles. Don’t forget the 27% retail vacancy rate on Chicago’s Miracle Mile—and that is before the closing of the Banana Republic store just south of Chicago Avenue. The office and retail vacancies translate into decreased property tax and sales tax revenue. While Johnson may want to shift the focus to under-resourced neighborhoods, he needs to keep his eye on Chicago’s economic engine; it generates the revenue that will make those new programs a reality.

To Johnson’s credit, he already seems to understand the challenges he faces. He chose Rich Guidice, a city hall insider, as his chief of staff—somebody who knows the ropes and how to get things done. He also is reportedly not planning on immediately replacing all the current department heads with his own people, apparently recognizing that experience and continuity are critical to his and the City’s success.

Governor Pritzker also sent Johnson a message—Springfield is not going to finance his proposals to the extent Johnson might have hoped. During the first meeting between Pritzker and Johnson, Pritzker made clear that there would be no state legislation imposing a financial transactions tax, which Pritzker pointed out would cause the exchanges and brokers to move out of Chicago.

Adding to Johnson’s challenges, the City Council, although more progressive after the April election, recently consolidated its power through internal organizational changes, thereby signaling to Johnson that the Council will not simply accede to all his demands.

So will the groups that gathered today in Union Park be patient? Will they accept half a loaf rather than a full one? Will incremental change placate them, or will they turn on Johnson? In my view, today highlighted the conflicts that loom if and when unrealistic expectations go unmet, making the event noteworthy.

The second piece of news that came out of the event involves the police, and how the demonstrators treated them. No doubt that various people have legitimate beefs with the Chicago Police Department and other departments around the nation. Every few weeks we witness an inexplicable incident involving a police officer beating or killing an unarmed person, often a member of the Black or Latino community. No doubt, there are authoritarian-like police officers who abuse their positions and powers.

But what transpired outside the Fraternal Order of the Police (FOP) headquarters today was disturbing. While the marchers stopped as well at other union headquarters, here they halted in order to highlight complaints. The demonstrators lambasted the police and wrote inflammatory slogans on the asphalt in front of the FOP building, while the cops who were charged with keeping the marchers safe looked on. Do the demonstrators ever wonder how their unrelenting criticism impacts the police officers who are present?

Several weeks back, I spoke with one officer who said (paraphrasing), “we are just blue collar workers making sure that the demonstrators can safely exercise their First Amendment rights.” To my mind, there was irony in the air today. A march celebrating worker rights stops in front of a union hall and denigrates those who are represented by that union. No nuance whatsoever.

There are bad plumbers, lawyers, politicians, retail clerks, and doctors, but that does not make every member of their respective professions bad. While the demonstrators certainly have a right and reason to call out the bad cops and police violence, they might want to acknowledge that most of the police officers protecting their rights are decent people just trying to do an incredibly difficult, and at times, a dangerous job. The officers on the frontline don’t set policy and procedures; they do not allocate City resources or priorities.

The demonstrators might have taken a moment to honor the sacrifice made by Andres Vasquez-Lasso and Ella French, two police officers who were recently gunned down in the line of duty. They might have also thanked the officers on duty who kept a watchful eye on the march and who managed the traffic, assuring everyone’s safety. I did not see a single officer heckle the demonstrators or impede the demonstrations. In fact, I overheard a conversation before the march, in which one organizer told someone that given the relatively small size of the crowd, the police would limit the marchers to the sidewalks rather than the streets; the street apparently being preferable. Despite this person’s prognostication and the crowd size, the police closed the streets for the march. No sidewalks today.

So at the end of the day, this march was newsworthy.

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