CHICAGO – Anger. Frustration. Weary.
As thousands of people from all over the country and the world gathered at Union Park in Chicago on Monday to march against the Democratic National Convention (DNC), those were the common feelings rumbling through the fervent crowd.
“Are you planning to vote in the upcoming election?” Nearly every person The Atlanta Voice asked had one answer: “No.”
Sheila Williams sat in a wheelchair sheltered under a tent as protesters marched down Washington Boulevard. Pinned on either side of her jacket were mini flyers declaring that “the whole damn system’s got to go,” and to “stop following the bourgeois electoral bullsh*t.”
“At my age, I should be at home in a rocking chair, but here I am with my walker out here to say, enough is enough,” Williams said. “All these people out here in the streets today that are protesting about racism, protesting about abortion rights, protesting about genocide, protesting about police brutality, protesting about so many things that are elements of this system. America was never great.”
Over 200 organizations formed the coalition that sought to have their demands heard on the first day of the DNC. Among those organizations were Students for a Democratic Society, Black Lives Matter Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine Chicago, and Dear Asian Youth.
While speakers and representatives rallied the crowd from onstage, people milled about holding various signs calling for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, an end to police crimes, defense of LGBTQIA+ and reproductive rights and immigrant rights and legalization for all undocumented workers— among a running list of issues.
Different chants rang through the crowd:
“The Palestinian struggle is the students’ struggle. The Palestinian struggle is our struggle.”
“Viva viva Palestina.”
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Palestinian flags waved under the Chicago sun, but among the red, black, white, and green were flags from other parts of the world from Mexico to the Dominican Republic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Korea, and Colombia.
During a week where Democrats are hoping to rally the American people and put forth a positive front, the anti-DNC rhetoric was a contrast to the pro-DNC sentiments just half a mile away from The United Center. For many, it wasn’t a question of who they were voting for in November or “the lesser of two evils” argument; it was a total disregard for either party.
“We’re coming into an unprecedented election. We’re saying this year isn’t going to be a normal election year,” said Leo Pargo, a leading member of the Revcom Corps for the Emancipation of Humanity Chicago. “Biden-Harris on one side supporting this genocide. The fascist Trump on the other side going after women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, demonizing migrants that are forced to come here from all over the world. We’re saying this isn’t a time to side between one oppression or another.”