[Peace] witness to the Freedom Rides in Chicago

[Charles Smith]

Last weekend, the area around the Dirksen Federal building was noisy. Why? The Freedom 
Rides invaded Chicago on Saturday.
 
The Freedom Rides was based on--of course--the similar event in the turbulent Civil 
Rights years from about 1954 to around 1969. At that time, the purpose of the rides
is to protest Jim Crow laws that segregated Blacks on public transportation--especially
city buses, which included the famous Rosa Parks incident in Montgomery, Alabama.
 
But this retrospective of the Freedom Rides last weekend was for immigrant rights. The immigrants are protesting the Draconian federal regulations that, even though they were set in place in the name of stopping terrorism (after the 9-11 attacks),  segregated these individuals much more severely--or as
equally--as Blacks were facing in 1954 to 1969. 
 
I saw school buses at and near the Dirksen building property as far as the eye can see. It reminded me of all of the school field
trips I went to as a young boy.
 
Hundreds of children--as well as adults, attended the rally. Latino Americans and Latina
Americans, mostly. I heard one speaker speak in English and another in Spanish.
The SEIU people came too, armed with noise bats draped in white and purple.
 
I was scared of the security culture, of course. I saw the Chicago Police mounted patrol
in riot gear, on the edge of Dearborn St., waiting just in case things went out of hand.
As you may know, after 9-11, the building complex was feared as a high-profile area
for possible terrorist attacks, and that was why concrete barriers were built up on the 
edge of the sidewalks around the complex property to prevent a disaster reminiscent of
the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing.
 
But I tried hard to ignore the police and focus on the people at the rally firsthand. 
I had to leave the rally early because I had to go to Champaign on a Greyhound
bus at 11:30 a.m. to see Kathy Kelly on Monday in Champaign. But before I left, I tried to find Kathy Kelly in the rally, but the crowd
of about 5,000 kept me so confused. I also tried to find Matt Reichel, an activist for
the IDF (who actually lives in my hometown, Chicago), but all hopes were futile.
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