Political Activism
Below are several of Bob’s albums related to Political Activism.
Launch of United Working Families (UWF)
July 27 2014: The launch of United Working Families in Chicago. United Working Families has a mission to organize working families, strengthen their voices on issues of racial, social and economic justice.
United Working Families (UWF) is an independent political organization based in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed in 2014 as a coalition between the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana, Grassroots Illinois Action, and Action Now.
The Resistance to Donald Trump
Thousands of demonstrators have assembled and marched through Chicago streets in the days following Trump's election.
There were similar protests across the nation.
Throughout his campaign Trump made his racist and sexist views quite clear, as well as his disdain for women, people of color, immigrants, union members, and marginalized people of all kinds.
Although Hillary Clinton had the greatest number of popular votes by a narrow margin, Trump was elected because of the antiquated and badly broken Electoral College system used in the USA.
Click any photo to expand.
Moral Mondays in Chicago – No More Cuts!
It is time to tell our officials, no more cuts! Let's fund a society we all want to live in, with the services, programs, and educational institutions we need. Let’s put people and planet first by taxing the corporations and the wealthy.
Click any photo to enlarge.
May Day in Chicago: 2016
Labor and immigrant rights activists, as well as demonstrators calling for democracy and an end to the war in Syria, were all part of the May Day scene in Chicago.
Community Organizing
Chicago has a long history of community organizing for justice going back to the heyday of the Jane Addams Hull House.
August 6, 2016: The first North Lawndale Arts Festival. Douglas Park. Douglas Park Cultural Center on Chicago's West Side Cultural Center on Chicago's West Side. The first North Lawndale Arts Festival
August 3, 2016: An evening at the Ginkgo Community Gardens. Located in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, the Ginkgo Community Gardens grow approximately 1,500 pounds of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers each year and donate them to Uptown-area non-profit organizations. Currently, Ginkgo donates produce to Vital Bridges' GroceryLand, a food pantry that serves low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS.
August 2, 2016: The Chicago-based Workers Center for Racial Justice sponsored an evening meeting with the theme "Night out for Safety and Liberation.”Participants discussed the socio-economic complexities of safety in a violent capitalist society and what liberation could truly mean.
CTU calls for Chicago Day of Action on April 1
April 1, 2016: The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) called for an April 1 one-day strike by its members to protest the toxic economic policies of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. The CTU encouraged its labor and community allies to hold local actions during the day and then assemble for a massive rally and march through downtown Chicago in the late afternoon. Many thousands participated.
The Rainbow Coalition
March 3 2016: Organize Your Own: The Politics and Poetics of Self-Determination Movements. At the opening of "Organize Your Own" at the Averill and Bernard Leviton Gallery in Chicago:
The exhibit features new work by contemporary artists and poets that responds to archival materials related to the history of white people organizing their own working-class white neighborhoods in Philadelphia (the October 4th Organization) and Chicago (the Young Patriots Organization) in keeping with the mandate from the Black Power movement to “organize your own” community against racism.
Chicago March for Bernie Sanders
February 27 2016: 3000 Chicagoans gathered to rally and march in support of the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders. There is now an official Sanders campaign office in addition to the independent Sanders organizing. The primary is March 15. 3000 people marched from Daley Plaza in Chicago to the Magnificent Mile to show their support for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign
Chicago experiences "The Bern"
The insurgent campaign of Bernie Sanders is becoming more visible in the Windy City.
January 23 2016: 3000 Chicagoans gathered to rally and march to support the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders.
The 2016 US Election
January 16, 2016: Chicago social event for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Uncommon Ground was the scene of an informal gathering of Sanders supporters for music, speeches, opportunities to volunteer and conversation.
January 28, 2016: Chicago Fight for $15 goes to Des Moines, Iowa to rally for $15 an hour and a union. Fight for $15 hoped to teach the Republicans at the January 28th debate some basic economics: There is no excuse for poverty wages.
February 27, 2016: Rally for Bernie Sanders in Chicago. 3000 people marched from Daley Plaza in Chicago to the Magnificent Mile to show their support for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign
Put the guns down
January 8, 2016: End gun violence in Chicago. Press conference for the victims of Chicago gun violence. Chicagoans gathered in the Grand Crossing neighborhood to discuss solutions to the violence after two young people were killed and one wounded in a drive-by on January 6 2016. This a bullet found at the scene of the killings
December 31, 2015: Put the guns down: no more gun violence in Chicago. Father Mike Phleger and the Community of St. Sabina lead a march on New Years Eve for a peaceful Chicago future. It should be noted that Father Mike remains (regrettably) a Rahm supporter.
New Years Eve in Chicago
Chicagoans gather to demand the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State's-Attorney Anita Alvarez
December 31, 2015: New Years Eve in Chicago. Chicagoans gather to demand the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and State's-Attorney Anita Alvarez
