Postponed Counter-Inaugural Protest to Demand Stop Deportations & No More Weapons to Israel
A counter-inauguration protest originally planned for the bitterly cold day this past Monday will start at 12 noon, Saturday, January 25 at Water Tower Park, corner of Chicago Avenue and Michigan Avenue.
The People’s March for Justice, a coalition of over 60 organizations, will focus on immediate aid for Gaza and self-determination for the Palestinian people, and opposing the bipartisan pledge to build walls, close borders against people fleeing their home countries often as a direct result of US foreign policy.
Speakers (in order of appearance) at the opening and closing rallies at each end of the march on Trump Tower are:
** Tarek Khalil, American Muslims for Palestine – Chicago. Tarek is an attorney, activist and Education Chair with American Muslims for Palestine.
** Elvira Arellano, Co-founder, Familia Latina Unida. Elvira is an international activist who works to defend the human rights of immigrants living in the U.S. In 2001, she co-founded La Familia Latina Unida. Arellano gained national fame when she took sanctuary in a Chicago church in August 2006, in an effort to avoid being deported away from her U.S.-born son Saul. Time magazine included her among ‘People Who Mattered’ in its ‘Person of the Year’ issue in December 2006.
** Ash Bohrer, Jewish Voice for Peace – Chicago. Ash (they them) is a Jewish activist and academic. They sit on the national board of Jewish Voice for Peace and is a coordinator in the Chicago Chapter.
** Alithia Zamantakis, Party for Socialism and Liberation. Alithia is an educator and organizer.
** Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef, Push for 5. He is a Human Rights and Anti-Violence Activist in Chicago. Rabbi Yosef is: Founder of Chicago Activist Coalition For Justice a social justice organization here in Chicago and Chairman and organizing member of the “PUSH For 5 Coalition”.
** Dustin Spence, Workers Strike Back. He is an officer worker and a socialist. Workers Strike back is an independent movement organizing on the streets and in our workplaces against the billionaires and their political servants.
** Cristóbal Cavazos, Casa DuPage. Cristóbal is a Latino and immigrant rights activist and co-founder of Immigrant Solidarity Dupage / Casa Dupage, the largest Latino advocacy organization in the western suburbs of Chicago. The son of former Mexican itinerant farm laborers from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas and Northern Mexico, he was raised in Glendale Heights, IL.
** Kamran Siddiqi, ANSWER Coalition. Kamran an organizer with the ANSWER Coalition – Act Now to Stop War and End Racism
** Mahalea Velasco, high school student. Mahalea is an 18-year-old Chicana from Southwest Chicago. Her father was deported at age 6 spurring her interest in immigrant rights activism.
** Amal Zayed, Palestinian Assembly for Liberation. Amal (Em-El) is a 23-year-old organizer who works with PAL Chicago and United States Palestinian Community Network. Today Amal will speak on behalf of PAL Chicago.
** Micaela Foreman, Socialist Alternative. Micaela is a member of GEO, the graduate worker union at UIC (speaking in a personal capacity)
** A representative of Students for Justice in Palestine – Chicago. They are a member of the popular university for Gaza and political education chair of SJP Chicago. The speaker prefers not to be named.
** Mauro Navarro, Coordinator, National TPS (Temporary Protected Status) Alliance. The National TPS Alliance we organize collectively to preserve fairness, respect and dignity for tps holders and for all immigrants in the United States.
** Yolanda Judeh, Al Hub. Yolanda has been organizing for over a decade and is the Director of Programs and Operations at Al-Hub, a Palestinian youth-led grassroots organization that focuses on uplifting Palestinian youth and empowering community, reviving forums rooted in Palestinian tradition that catalyze a cohesive, progressive, and diverse society, and developing strategies for decolonization and liberation while exemplifying leadership.
** Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation Network. Andy is a co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, an LGBTQ group which emphasizes solidarity in the spirit of post-Stonewall Rebellion period, including organizing the widely acclaimed Palestine solidarity contingent in last June’s Pride Parade. An organizer for over 40 years, he played a pivotal role in winning equal marriage rights in Illinois and has participated in multiple LGBTQ solidarity delegations to Russia and Honduras.
Besides their two central demands of stopping the Gaza genocide and deportations of refugees and immigrants, the People’s March for Justice has additional demands which can be found in English here https://tinyurl.com/J20demands and in Spanish here https://tinyurl.com/J20Espanol
Endorsers of the People’s March for Justice include:
About Face Veterans Against the War ** Al Hub ** Alma de Izote ** American Civic and Humanitarian Coalition ** American Muslims for Palestine – Chicago ** ANSWER Coalition ** Centro de Trabajadores Casa DuPage ** Chicago Activist Coalition for Justice ** Chicago Area Peace Action ** Chicago Artists Against Genocide ** Chicago Democratic Socialists of America ** Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy ** Chicago For Abortion Rights ** Chicago Liberation Center ** Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America ** Chicago Socialist Alternative ** Christians for Ceasefire / Mennonite Action, Chicago ** CodePINK – Chicago ** Colectivo el Poso ** Comite Justicia Ayotzinapa ** Committee for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel ** Cook County Green Party ** Democratic Socialists of America – Chicago ** Dyke Night Chicago ** Educators for Palestine ** Evanston/Chicago Neighbors for Peace ** Familia latina unida ** Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice ** Gay Liberation Network ** Healthy Hood ** Illinois Green Party ** Illinois Progressives ** IfNotNow Chicago ** Immigrant Solidarity DuPage ** Jericho Chicago ** Jewish Voice for Peace – Chicago ** Justicia en Ayotzinapa ** La Voz de los de Abajo ** League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) ** LULAC – Cicero ** Malcolm X Grass Roots Movement ** Mennonite Action Chicago ** Mi Vilita Neighbors (MVN) ** Muslim Students Association National ** Occupy Elgin ** Palestinian American Community Center ** Palestinian Assembly for Liberation ** Palestinian Feminist Collective ** Palestinian Youth Movement ** Party for Socialism and Liberation ** Peoples Response Network ((PRN) ** PUSH for 5 Coalition ** Rainbow Push Coalition ** Salon Kawakib ** SJP Chicago ** Southsiders For Peace ** Starbucks Workers United Chicago ** Stop Trans Genocide ** Tempest ** Tikkun Chai Inter-National ** Veterans for Peace – Chapter 26 ** Workers Strike Back ** World Beyond War – Illinois ** Young Muslims of Chicago
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