A strong cause with ineffective leadership
Friday, Aug 3, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Common Dreams…
In a march that shut down a portion of Lake Shore Drive during rush hour and ended with prayers and speeches outside of Wrigley Field, hundreds of anti-violence protesters marched in Chicago on Thursday evening to demand that the city invest in its impoverished neighborhoods and to call for the resignations of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. […]
“It’s a tale of two cities,” Rev. Gregory Livingston, another lead organizer, explained to USA Today. “One of the hardest things to do is inspire the uninspired. Sometimes you have to stick your neck out, have some skin in the game and get people to recognize that there are some people here are that trying to do something.”
* Hundreds of protesters?…
* They did shut down LSD and they got a lot of media coverage (some people claimed there may have been more cops, reporters and onlookers than protesters), but the organizers failed miserably to convince many demonstrators to show up…
The crowd was not as large as it should have been. Imagine the strength of hundreds, even thousands, of people marching in harmony to end the violence that has led to more than 1,500 shootings so far this year. But a disagreement among community leaders over the goals of the march — specifically calls for the resignations of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Eddie Johnson — splintered the African-American community.
* Even so…
But the activists and preachers and organizers who have started bringing their protests out of the shadows, the ones prepared to make life difficult in places where things are easy — they’re on to something. For too long, this violence has endured. For too long, powerful people in this city have ignored it while politicians have offered up wildly incomplete solutions to win votes.
Anyone who has tuned out the deadly day-in-and-day-out toll on the streets of our city needs to be rattled, needs to be made to feel uncomfortable. Cries of help from street corners most will never pass have, of course, gone unheard.
What choice remains but to get louder, to force others to notice?
Those white and yellow chalk slogans on Lake Shore Drive will vanish quickly.
But I hope, as the Rev. Livingston said, that these protests have only just begun.
Maybe Livingston, who was Willie Wilson’s spokesman in his last mayoral campaign, isn’t the one to lead these protests is all I’m saying…
And despite all the premarch publicity, some caught up in the congestion were taken by surprise. Stevenson Renee of Bronzeville on the South Side sat in traffic at Clark and Belmont. He said he understood the concerns of those protesting, even though he hadn’t heard about the event until he became entangled in it.
“This is all new to me,” Renee said. “I didn’t know anything about this.”
* Final word…
The fact that protesters could bring neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Wrigleyville to a standstill during rush hour signaled the beginning of a different movement, according to activists, to “redistribute the pain in Chicago.”
African-Americans often take to the streets in their own neighborhoods, recently shutting down the Dan Ryan Expressway on the South Side. While such protests send a message to criminals that law-abiding residents will not concede defeat, they do not beckon people on the other side of town to stand with them in the fight.
This time, the message was clear.
- wordslinger - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:16 am:
That’s probably the best ROI on Protesters-to-Play I’ve ever seen.
Days of media play, lots of tavern talk.
- City Zen - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:17 am:
Thud.
This was a pretty big fail. A great opportunity to disrupt Chad and Trixie on their home turf was lost.
I’m not sure why they chose the north side on Lollapalooza weekend. More publicity was to be had in Grant Park.
- Ok - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:19 am:
But it wasn’t an anti-violence march. I don’t know why people kept calling it that.
It was an anti-Rahm march. It was about private economic development on the South and West sides, school closings, police shootings, and other things.
They relate to anti-violence, but this was about economic opportunity and investment.
- Support Dorothy Brown - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:19 am:
Epic fail. And black aldermen will keep supporting Rahm Emanuel.
- Ok - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:21 am:
… and attended by a bunch of white hippies and hipsters from Uptown and Rogers Park. Not many folks from the South Side.
I feel bad that they will be disregarded based on the let-down of the number of people. Maybe they should focus on organizing.
- Chicago Cynic - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:22 am:
Unlike the Dan Ryan protest, I think this one largely failed because it was explicitly political in nature. “We don’t want Rahm’s support…we want his resignation” is a perfectly legit call to action, but it’s not going to attract the wide swath of support that just stopping violence would. Also, they’ve said that their goal is to, in effect, cause misery to those in more affluent areas…to spread the pain. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be very effective at winning them support from areas of the City they need to accomplish their ultimate goal.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:26 am:
Regardless of the small turnout, Word is right. Everybody I know was talking about this since the day it was announced.
Of course, a lot of that talk was stuff like, “how are you getting to the game?” Or, “you should leave work early to get home before the march.” It wasn’t necessarily supportive of the point of the protest, the talk about how to deal with it as a logistical challenge.
But I think we got a good look at Tio Hardiman’s organizing talents. He got the Chicago Police to magically appear on every block along the parade route for the first time since late October of 2016.
I’d forgotten Chicago had that many police officers.
- Downstate - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:26 am:
Might they have had more impact if they marched through the communities that are suffering?
Images of blighted neighborhoods would be more eye-opening than Wrigleyville.
- GOP - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:32 am:
It must be more difficult to get protesters in this near full employment economy.
- Father Ted - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:33 am:
It just seemed too disorganized and without a purpose that was effectively clear to most people.
Demanding that Rahm and Eddie Johnson to step down is a)unrealistic and b)not going to solve problems that have been in effect and snowballing for decades.
The other goal of ‘inconveniencing’ north siders to raise awareness of the plight of those in poorer communities is also somewhat presumptuous- how do the leaders of the march know that northsiders aren’t already aware and sympathetic to the situation?
- NIU Grad - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:34 am:
Our old friend Tio Hardiman was out and about claiming leadership of the protest. Was he actually one of the coordinators or was he just trying to steal the mic?
- Gooner - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:47 am:
The real problem is that nobody really understood what the protesters were seeking.
They seemed angry, but it was unclear what, if anything, they wanted done.
I watched part of the march on NBC. The march itself seemed very disorganized.
Overall, it was a failed opportunity.
- BlueDogDem - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:48 am:
The violence is frightening. My thoughts and prayers to those innocent effected. They are more numerous than what we know.
- Amalia - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 11:49 am:
Yawn on their effort. Not on the problem of violence in certain neighborhoods.
- California Guy - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:02 pm:
@Gooner
I was thinking the same thing. The aldermen in the south side districts often run unopposed (by any serious contenders, at least) and receive broad support. Chicago is a City run by a blend of progressive and business-friendly Democrats.
I get the sense that these people are protesting the actions (or, inaction) of the very people they voted for and will likely continue to vote for.
I also didn’t think that bringing a headache, traffic, etc. onto Lakeshore would really win support. It sends the wrong message. The time of people sitting in their cars on Lakeshore isn’t valuable, but the time of protesters is to be noticed and revered. Hard to make friends like that.
- Original Rambler - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:03 pm:
47th 11:26 - Think Rahm would have sent the same police contingent if they scheduled the march to shut down 63rd street or the like? Then they would get adequate protection in their communities. Just saying.
- Anon - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:09 pm:
Message from downstate- shut down roads and lose all sympathy
- dbk - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:10 pm:
–Might they have had more impact if they marched through the communities that are suffering? –
I think the goal, even if inadequately articulated and realized, was precisely to march through communities that aren’t suffering, far from it.
The pain on the South and West sides tends to stay on the South and West sides, and as long as it does, nothing much will change for the better.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:15 pm:
===The pain on the South and West sides tends to stay on the South and West sides, and as long as it does, nothing much will change for the better.===
A young man was shot in the head last night, three blocks from my house. The march went through parts of Uptown that regularly experience violence. Make no mistake, this is a city wide problem, it’s not unique to Chicago and no one is immune.
- @misterjayem - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:25 pm:
Is the success or failure of a protest march determined by its headcount or by its ability to bring attention to the problem protested?
If it’s determined by headcount, this protest was clearly a failure.
Fortunately, I don’t think headcount is the proper measure.
Unfortunately, IMHO, even if it’s determined by attention, this protest still wasn’t a success.
The fact that the better-informed-than-most CapFax commenters are uncertain of what exactly was being protested — violence? guns? Rahm? decades willful economic segregation? none of the above? some of the above? all of the above? — shows that the attention garnered was unfocused.
Strong organizers and leaders focus on the What and the Why. The What — an attention-grabbing action in a white neighborhood — succeeded. But the Why wasn’t coherent.
That incoherent message, not the numbers, was the action’s organizational failure.
That said, the first iteration of an action is rarely a success and I strongly suspect that this will not be Chicago’s last attention-grabbing action in a white neighborhood.
– MrJM
- JoanP - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:27 pm:
It was pretty pathetic. Note the sign the protestors are holding in the photo above: “Trump/Pence must go”. I’m not a fan of the current administration, but I’m also not sure what that has to do with the alleged purpose of the march.
Honestly, judging by the banners, it looks like the march was attended mostly by people from the Revolutionary Communist Party.
- sharkette - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:41 pm:
.. The bus drivers are not running during this..
the people who pay Unemployment taxes for those that need it and have jobs are not paid, or late, the shops can’t do business..the cabs or PD vehicles are not running, even the cops are not out doing what they really need to do….
If these people would spend their time more wisely.. cooking food for some1 in need,, giving their time at a shelter, mentoring a troubled youth.. even go so far as to write the legislators who actually enact the stupid laws they do, and they sure do,,, rather than cause the tax papers who knows what this time around,,,
it would be better time spent, more isely spent time,,
that might actually accomplish something beneficial.
These marches do nothing to change the situation.
It’s been going on for.. 50 years..
I think the last one was what, a quarter mil tax payers paid, plus the lost of every ones time that did not participate.
And they accomplish ZERO.
The antics accomplish zero to address the problem.
People do not seem to get it, there is a process to change the politicians who make the laws we have.
Figure it out folks. Marching does ZERO accept waste MORE funds people in need, NEED! hello..
- Father Ted - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:45 pm:
On some level, I think it’s fair to question the wisdom of ’sharing the pain’ and inconveniencing people from whom you wish to gather support- especially when the police resources you are demanding to quell violence are already being pulled from north side districts. See the CWB Chicago blog for ongoing coverage of the reduced numbers of cops covering Lakeview’s police district that is all but directly leading to increases in robberies, burglaries and other crimes in Lakeview, Lincoln Park and other areas.
- Henry Francis - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 12:56 pm:
Reading just the headline I thought this was about the Rauner Administration.
- City Guy - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 1:04 pm:
I agree with Father Ted’s comments. Politics are a game of addition not subtraction. Telling people in communities like Lakeview that you want them to share the pain will win few friends and alienate many. This is particularly true because they did not have any realistic demands for people to act upon.
I also have to ask can you imagine Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. conducting a march with the stated goal of “redistributing the pain”?
- Precinct Captain - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 1:17 pm:
Livingston and Hardiman were on Chicago Tonight on Wednesday and you could tell this was going to be a dud. These two are self-interested operators with little to no credibility and it showed last night.
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 2:08 pm:
In spring 2013, prior to the passage of Rep. Brandon Phelps’ concealed carry bill, I attended a gun rights town hall at Chicago Vocational high school on the south side of Chicago. Former Chicago Alderman Cliff Kelley moderated, and Shawn Gowder spoke about how he “thanked God for the NRA” paying for his lawsuit against the city of Chicago. Meanwhile, former NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde, Richard Pearson from ISRA, and Valinda Rowe from (southern) Illinois Carry had negotiated Duty to Inform with the police unions in Phelps carry bill, so police could get away with killing armed citizens legally, like Philando Castile in Minnesota.
If the protesters and organizers of this march care about police violence and they want to go up against seasoned politicians like Rahm Emanuel, they should understand the role of NRA & ISRA using them as pawns and fronts for lawsuits.
- Responsa - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 2:21 pm:
Father Pfleger did not support this protest march and explained why pretty clearly. He holds a lot of sway in Chicago.
==“I don’t think any of those people are going to resign, so I don’t want to get distracted from my focus — economic development, jobs, more funding for our schools and resources for the West and South sides,” Pfleger, of St. Sabina Catholic Church, told the Tribune this week.
Pfleger said he doesn’t plan to attend next week’s march because he doesn’t agree with the demands for resignations. (Livingston and activist Tio Hardiman, who is also helping plan the Lake Shore Drive shutdown, didn’t participate in the Dan Ryan march.) Pfleger said the group he led on the Dan Ryan had a different focus and wants to change policies that would create holistic solutions to gun violence such as bettering public schools and increasing economic opportunity.
“It’s just a different focus than our focus,” Pfleger said. “We can change the names in offices, but if we don’t change the policy, then it’s just someone else enforcing it. The system is bad. So it’s not about Democrats or Republicans, it’s about who is willing to radically change the policies and the determination of funds to level the playing fields.”==
- Silicon Prairie - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 2:53 pm:
Last night on Chicago Tonight at 700 they interviewed some protesters and onlookers. Best line: ” We get lot of people from the south side in wrigleyville. They come up here to rob us “
- LeoFromChicago - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 3:20 pm:
Pretty poor tactics to protest in traditionally one of the more liberal parts of town (i.e. Lakeview). Going after people close to you (politically spreaking) is an easy reach but ultimately self-defeating. Happens every once in a while. Unfortunately.
- Shytown - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 4:01 pm:
I guess when you’re fronting for far right conservatives and consumed by self interest that inauthentic actions like these are bound to be failures.
- Anonymous - Friday, Aug 3, 18 @ 4:01 pm:
Re: recent protest marches: from Sizzle to Fizzle.
- Da Big Bad Wolf - Monday, Aug 6, 18 @ 9:00 am:
I don’t know sharkette, 12:41. Do protests ever work, ever not work, sometimes work? How would someone go about determining that?