Crossposted at
SoapBlox/Chicago
I just got back from marching and rallying - I know there is already a lot of media coverage with much better pictures than I can take and a front page post about it, but I thought people might be interested in the perspective of someone who was there through the whole thing (mostly)
Last night, I still hadn't decided whether I should march from the beginning or just go straight to the rally in Grant Park. Union Park to Grant Park is a long walk, and I am notoriously lazy.
I am glad I decided to head to Union Park. After stopping in my office briefly this morning, I hopped on the el to Ashland. The train was predictably packed with people dressed in white, carrying flags and, for the many people who were clearly not from Chicago, nervously asking where we were so they could make sure they wouldn't miss the stop. They didn't need to worry. As the green line train pulled up to Ashland, there were gasps of amazement as people saw from the train the crowds that were already forming at Union Park. I got off the train, and wandered through the crowd at Union Park. I never actually saw the stage or the speakers because I wasn't pushy enough to get through the crowds to the front, but I did hear Barack Obama's speech. He spoke about how proud he was to have this national movement begin in Chicago, and how he will push for a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate.
I spaced out during most of the speeches, especially when they were in Spanish, and instead observed the people around me. There were tons of families, groups of high school students, community groups, religious groups, Irish, Polish, Hispanic and Asian groups, and lots and lots of American Flags.
Here are some pictures from Union Park:
I looked at my watch, and knew that the march was probably going to begin soon, so I left the area with the speakers and made my way to Randolph street. The march had already begun. I wanted to be relatively close to the front so that I could get to Grant Park at a reasonable time, since I knew from the March 10 event that it would take hours for the march to finish.
The march itself was exhilarating. There was a group of people drumming and playing the trumpet with SEIU jackets on. There were various people throughout with megaphones who would begin chants of "Si se puede" or "El pueblo unido, jamas sera vencido" with all the people within earshot joining in.
I also couldn't tell what was going on a lot of the time, because I don't know Spanish at all. Occasionally someone would call out something that would get laughs, and I would just be clueless. It made me feel a little bit of understanding for what it would be like to live in a county where you are surrounded by a language you don't understand all the time. Perhaps this is why it was usually someone Hispanic who would begin to do the chants in English as well, or alternate between English and Spanish. One of the best chants, however, I made sure to look up when I got back to see what it meant. It was "Bush, escucha, estamos en la lucha!" which means, "Listen Bush: We are in the fight."
One of the best parts of the whole thing was seeing all of the people watching the parade of marchers go by. Many people who were standing on the balconies of their apartments, looking out store windows, or just standing along the side watching and cheering everyone on. Occasionally we passed businesses, churches or people's balconies that had signs showing support, and everyone would cheer as soon as they saw it and shout "Si se puede!"
There were helicopters hovering overhead, and I wondered whether they were police or media. One of them kept circling, and every time it flew over our heads, the whole crowd would shout and wave their flags and signs. I hope it was the media.
As we marched down Jackson, I was excited to finally arrive downtown. Downtown there were even more crowds of people waiting to wave at the marchers. At that point the energy in the crowd magnified. During the middle of the march the chanting had been intermittent; now that we were downtown, it didn't stop. Many people were cheering "USA, USA." I saw bystanders who had clearly been waiting for the march to get downtown and were holding signs saying "we're glad you're here." Not a single counter protester the entire time, although I was looking out for it.
When we hit Wabash, it was about 12:00 and I decided to head up to my office to take a break, eat lunch, and check my messages instead of heading to Grant Park right away.
About an hour later, I walked back down Michigan Avenue to Jackson and joined up again with the march, which of course was still going strong. Looking down Jackson, there were people still coming as far as I could see.
At Columbus, the marchers were supposed to turn right and keep going farther down grant park. Instead, many people stopped and lined the street, acting as a welcoming crowd for new people as they arrived from Union Park.
Once I got to Grant Park, it seemed like the protest was over, despite the fact that new people were still arriving. The march was pretty long, and people seemed to be lounging on the grass, while many families there with children were having picnics.
Then, I walked a little further and found out where the crowds of people had ended up.
I walked through the crowd, listening to the speeches and trying to figure out where the stage and speakers were. There were plenty of other people trying to push through the crowd to get to the front so I followed in their trail until I finally got relatively close. I had no idea who the first few people were that I heard speak. One person was talking about the historical connection between this rally and the rally for the 40 hour workweek in Haymarket square, on May 1, 1886. After all, immigrants' rights are workers rights.
The man who really electrified the crowd, however, was Congressman Luis Gutierrez.
He gave his speech first in Spanish and then in English, and both times the crowd went crazy. He mentioned that in the late 19th century in Chicago, people were saying that the Irish were going to ruin this county. In 1910, the New York Times editorial page said that the Italian immigrants were going to ruin the country. They were wrong about the Irish, he said, they were wrong about the Italians, and now they are wrong when they talk about the current wave of immigration. He finished his speech by insisting that everyone chant "Today we March, tomorrow we vote," which is actually my favorite slogan of all, since I think it is the most important. He also read a letter from Durbin, who couldn't be there but is supportive. The next speak was Jan Schakowsky, who represents the one of the most diverse districts in Chicago. She mentioned that her parents immigrated from Russia for the same reason that all the people there immigrated - to provide a better life for their families. She also connected immigrant rights to workers rights, mentioning that she was a member of UNITE-HERE and she was proud of the work they did in organizing today's rally.
At that point my camera was out of batteries and I was ready to leave.