Chicago demands “Funds, not feds!”

Chicago, IL – Over 100 Chicagoans rallied outside the offices of Google and Valor Equity Partners in the West Loop on Saturday, October 11, demanding funding for public services through increasing taxes on large corporations, removing vacant police officer positions, and for all federal agents to leave the city.

“Billionaires are standing in the way of working families being able to afford healthcare, to put food on the table, to have a home, to put their kids through school,” explained Rocio Garcia, senior organizing director of the Grassroots Collaborative.

The protest was organized by the People’s Unity Platform, a coalition led by the Grassroots Collaborative, and the Public Health and Safety (PHS) Coalition. Both coalitions are looking to connect their fight around the Chicago city budget to the broader fight against Trump’s agenda of disinvestment and military occupation as they mount pressure on city council representatives to pass a budget that invests in real safety for Chicagoans.

People from community organizations, youth groups and unions condemned the Trump administration’s attacks on working and oppressed people. They also condemned the class of monopoly capitalists who profit off budget cuts and repression.

“We’re not just dealing with an increasingly authoritarian government. We’re dealing with a plutocracy. That’s government by the rich, for the rich,” said Jackson Potter, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).

“Black people know that feds and police do not make us safer,” said Maurice Woodard with Equity And Transformation (EAT), countering the lies Trump is using to justify his war on Chicago.

“For many generations they have taken us from our homes, abused our communities and said ‘you’re the problem’ instead of investing in our communities, which we have shown has worked,” Woodard continued.

“They keep telling us there is no money but we know where it is. The money is with the corporations and the rich,” said 33rd Ward Alderperson Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez. “The money is also in the police department which has vacancies it will never be able to fill while we are wondering how we’re going to fund positions for nurses, social workers and clinicians.”

She was one of several progressive alderpersons who spoke at the rally, including Byron Sigcho Lopez (26th Ward) and Anthony Joel Quezada (35th Ward). All the speakers called for higher taxes on the rich and for public funds to go toward community services instead of repression.

“Let’s shut some shit down,” said Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR). He called for protests to take place in more consequential locations, including airports and highways, to force those in power to invest in communities and not military occupation.

“Every time we get something it’s because we fought to get it. Every time we get something it’s because we took power from them and gave it to ourselves,” Chapman said. “The way we take power is by using the power we got. Let’s use our numbers and have a mass demonstration!”

Protesters marched through the West Loop chanting “Funds, not feds!” and “Trump, escucha! Estamos en la lucha!” Passersby and workers in nearby businesses chanted along and waved in support.

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