Thousands of activists expected in Chicago for Democratic convention to call for Gaza ceasefire
CHICAGO (AP) — Thousands of activists are expected to converge on Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention, hoping to call attention to abortion rights, economic injustice and the war in Gaza.
While Vice President Kamala Harris has energized crowds of supporters as she prepares to accept the Democratic nomination, progressive activists maintain their mission remains the same.
Activists say they learned lessons from last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and are predicting bigger crowds and more robust demonstrations in Chicago, a city with deep social activism roots.
Who is protesting?
Demonstrations are expected every day of the convention and, while their agendas vary, many activists agree an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is the priority.
Things kicked off Sunday on the convention's eve with an abortion rights march along iconic Michigan Avenue.
Organizer Linda Loew said even though Democrats have pushed to safeguard reproductive rights at home, the issue is international. They marched in solidarity with people everywhere who struggle for the right to control what happens to their bodies, as well as to protest the money the U.S. spends to back wars that could be used for healthcare, she said.
“We believe that the billions of dollars that continue to flow to the state of Israel and the flow of weapons are having an inordinate and horrific impact, but in particular on women, children and the unborn,” she said. “All of these things are tied together.”
The largest group, the Coalition to March on the DNC, has planned demonstrations on the first and last days of the convention.
Organizers say they expect at least 20,000 activists, including students who protested the war on college campuses.
“The people with power are going to be there,” said Liz Rathburn, a University of Illinois Chicago student organizer. “People inside the United Center are the people who are going to be deciding our foreign policy in one way or another."
Where protesting? are they
Activists sued the city earlier this year, saying restrictions over where they can demonstrate violate their constitutional rights.
Chicago leaders rejected their requests for permits to protest near United Center on the city’s West Side, where the convention is taking place, offering instead a lakefront park more than 3 miles away.
Later, the city agreed to allow demonstrations at a park and a march route closer to the United Center. A federal judge recently signed off on the group's roughly 1-mile route.
Coalition to March on the DNC spokesman Hatem Abudayyeh said the group is pleased it won the right to protest closer to the convention, but he believes its preferred 2-mile march would be safer for larger crowds. The group is chartering buses for activists from about half a dozen states.
The city has designated a park about a block from United Center for a speakers' stage. Those who sign up get 45 minutes.
The Philadelphia-based Poor People’s Army, which advocates for economic justice, plans to set up at Humboldt Park on the city’s Northwest Side and will feature events with thirdparty candidates Jill Stein and Cornel West, plus a 3-mile march Monday to the United Center.
Some group members have spent the last few weeks marching the more than 80 miles from Milwaukee, where they protested during the Republican convention.
“Poor and homeless people are being brutalized, with tents and encampments destroyed and bulldozed away, from San Francisco to Philadelphia to Gaza and the West Bank,” spokesperson Cheri Honkala said in a statement as the group reached Illinois. “These preventable human rights violations are being committed by Democratic and Republican leaders alike.”
How does a new nominee change things?
Many activists believe nothing much will change because Harris is part of the Biden administration.
“The demands haven’t changed. I haven’t seen any policy changes,” said Erica Bentley, an activist with Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity. “If you’re going to be here, you’re going to have to listen to what’s important to us.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Chicago have been highly visible, shutting down roads to the airport and staging sit-ins at congressional offices. Some are planning their own one-day convention Sunday with third-party candidates.
“Regardless of who the nominee is, we’re marching against the Democrats and their vicious policies that have allowed Israel to kill over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza,” said Fayaani Aboma Mijana, an organizer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
It's unclear if the convention will draw far-right extremists who ardently support former President Donald Trump.