I started my day at the corner of Michigan and Roosevelt—the southwest corner of Grant Park—for an announced demonstration protesting the Chicago City Council’s decision to fund emergency aid for migrants from Central America. After last week’s explosive City Council meeting addressing appropriations for migrant housing and care, I expected that the turnout for the noon demonstration would be huge. Chicago exists in the midst of a zero-sum game. Money appropriated to house the migrants bused to Chicago by Texas Governor Greg Abbott means less money for the homeless, violence prevention programs, and summer jobs for teenagers, which is why the City Council meeting became so contentious.

After waiting 30 minutes after the noon start time, I left the demonstration, which by then included one woman with a handmade sign, five or six other adults, a couple of kids, and several members of Ex-Cons for Community & Social Change (ECCSC). There were more police on hand than demonstrators.

One member of ECCSC compared his group to the Navy Seals—unlike other community groups, ECCS goes into communities to convince teenages with guns to turn them in, just like the Navy Seals when they went into Pakistan to kill Bin Laden, according to this ECCSC member.

But alas, there was another demonstration further north on Michigan Avenue. Members of Chicago’s Russian community were demanding that the Russians return kidnapped Ukrainian children. Because that demonstration also began at noon, I had to choose between kidnapped children and migrants. Given the number of Ukrainian demonstrations I have covered, I opted for the “migrants,” suspecting that the demonstrations protesting the kidnapping of Ukrainian children would probably head to Millenium Park. If I was lucky, the two groups would pass each other like two ships in the night.

When I arrived at Millennium Park, I discovered that the Russians actually planned two demonstrations for today. The first began at 401 North Michigan Avenue—the plaza between the Tribune Tower and the Apple store. As advertised, it focused on the plight of kidnapped Ukrainian children.. The 75 demonstrators then marched south on Michigan Avenue to Millennium Park, where they stood on the periphery, bringing their message to folks hanging out in the park, as well as Swifees heading to the final night of Taylor Swift’s three-day residency at Chicago’s Soldier Stadium.

After 30 minutes, the Russians then reversed direction, returning to 401 North Michigan Avenue. At that point, those in attendance exchanged their “kidnapping” signs for ones highlighting the many political prisoners in Russia, including the crowd’s hero, Alexei Navalny. Not by coincidence, today is Navalny’s birthday.

Although the now familiar blue and yellow colors were visible, make no mistake: This was a demonstration by Russians rather than Ukranians—although there were undoubtedly a few Ukrainians in the crowd. At least, that is what i was told by one organizer and several demonstrators. Based on several conversations and the broken English I heard spoken, I believe many in the crowd were recent Russian emigres.

The most poignant moment of the day came after I captured an image of one man holding a graphically compelling sign. A minute later, a woman came running up to me. To paraphrase, “Please don’t publish the photograph of him. It will place him and his family in danger.” When I got home, I opened the photograph in Photoshop, “masked out” the man, and applied a white coat of paint. His identity now is hidden.

As a final note, I had seen the red-haired woman at the top of this post many times before. Today, somewhat surprisingly, she took the microphone attached to a bullhorn to express her views. She was a very passionate and elegant speaker.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It]

Photographer’s Notes: Today I left my flash behind. I assumed that I would be photographing in very bright, midday light, I was hoping for high contrast images filled with deeply saturated colors. Instead, I photographed under a very hazy sky, which mimicked a cloudy day. For several months, I have been wondering whether my use of fill flash has made any difference. It does, as I learned today.

Copyright 2023, Jack B. Siegel, All Rights Reserved. Do Not Alter, Copy, Download, Display, Distribute, or Reproduce Without the Prior Written Consent of the Copyright Holder.