[Marxism] Immig March in Chicago

[Alex Briscoe <obeynow20001@xxxxxxxxx>]

(Discussion on Marxmail.org)

  I've been seeing estimates of between  300K and 500K.  A couple members of 
the Pilsen Greens (general area where march went, where many Mex Amer immig are 
from) said that it took hours to march less than a mile. Things were so packed, 
noone could move for hours, literally.   Also, that this was the biggest march 
in Chicago's history, bigger than 19th cent labor marches, according to  news 
sources.

  It was pretty galling to see Daley and Blago up there fronting as defenders 
of immig workers, but given the weakness of the Greens and the corruption of 
machine ties in Chicago, I guess it was a given that other political voices 
would not be heard from the platform.

  OTOH, most politicos here are probably pretty aware of their immig roots, 
many of them being 1st or 2nd generation and their giving the finger to the 
know-nothings in DC and elsewhere was heartfelt.  Even while they allow the 
undocumented to be super-exploited in the building trades and elsewhere.

  On a related note, Greens here are starting to talk about the need to be more 
aggressive in approaching immigrant venues to get the Green perspective heard.  
To get our state slate on the ballot, we're going to need 25,000 valid sigs in 
3 months starting at the end of this month(compare this to Mississippi, where 
it's only 1,000 in 6 months!).  Immig reception to our lit has been pretty 
enthusiastic, particularly among Latinos.  (We also have two candidates, one 
Guatemalan, one Filipino on our slate).  More at www.ilgp.org and 
www.whitneyforgov.org We have a ways to go, though with establishing a presence 
in immig communities. (Although our handful of Greens in the Pilsen area have 
done a lot of good work around a neighborhood polluter in Pilsen, H Kramer, 
with a group, PERRO, established by Greens and supporters in the neighborhood).

  Alex Briscoe


  Although I read, or at least skim over, the Chicago Tribune every day, this,
the front-page headline article, caught me totally by surprise this morning.

There's something going on here.............


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0603110130mar11,1,6447756.story?page=1&coll=chi-news-hed

A show of strength
Thousands march to Loop for immigrants' rights

Workers, students unite in opposition to toughening of law

By Oscar Avila and Antonio Olivo
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 11, 2006

In a show of strength that surprised even organizers, tens of thousand of
immigrants poured into the Loop Friday, bringing their calls for immigration
reform to the heart of the city's economic and political power.

What started as a word-of-mouth campaign, then spread through the foreign
language media, grabbed the attention of the entire city by midday, as a
throng 2 miles long marched from Union Park on the Near West Side to Federal
Plaza.

Police estimated the crowd as large as 100,000, making it one of the biggest
pro-immigrant rallies in U.S. history, according to national advocates.




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