Coverage of Chicago May Day action in the Tribune
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Chicago May Day protest: Hundreds march for worker, immigrant rights
By Dawn Rhodes, Tribune
reporter
8:29 p.m. CDT, May 1, 2011
ct-met-may-day-chicago-0502-20110501
Advocating for labor rights and immigration reform, a
spirited crowd of hundreds marched through the Near West Side on Sunday
afternoon to commemorate May Day, a celebration dating to the late
1800s.
The group marched from Union Park to Pilsen behind a giant English-Spanish banner reading: "If one is deportable, we all are exploitable." Parents pulled children in wagons, while clusters of people banged buckets, played trumpets and chanted, "Sí, se puede!" (Yes, it can be done), the slogan of United Farm Workers.
Some participants directed their chants at President Barack Obama, saying deportations have increased during his time in office.
"We are extremely disappointed because I think so many people of color expect a change from his administration and haven't seen it," said Jessie Chavez, 37, of Cicero. "We're expecting and demanding the change that he promised."
Lindsey Rosa, 28, said she came from Grand Rapids, Mich., to march with her toddler daughter — whose stroller bore a sign reading "Immigration Stole My Daddy" — in honor of her husband, Joaquin, who was deported to Honduras last year.
"He's never committed any real crime, and there's no protections in the laws for families," Rosa said. "I miss him like crazy. I need my husband to come home and my child needs her father, and our immigration system needs to protect families first and foremost."
Though the crowd was sizable, it paled in comparison to past celebrations in Grant Park that drew hundreds of thousands — a fact not lost on some of Sunday's marchers.
"It's disappointingly small," said Rachel Serra, 30,of Pilsen. "I think that as people have been marching and advocating year after year and nothing seems to happen, the crowds are inevitably going to get smaller. But I don't see political action and movement as something that's really linear. It's all just a part of the process."
cdrh...@tribune.com
The group marched from Union Park to Pilsen behind a giant English-Spanish banner reading: "If one is deportable, we all are exploitable." Parents pulled children in wagons, while clusters of people banged buckets, played trumpets and chanted, "Sí, se puede!" (Yes, it can be done), the slogan of United Farm Workers.
Some participants directed their chants at President Barack Obama, saying deportations have increased during his time in office.
"We are extremely disappointed because I think so many people of color expect a change from his administration and haven't seen it," said Jessie Chavez, 37, of Cicero. "We're expecting and demanding the change that he promised."
Lindsey Rosa, 28, said she came from Grand Rapids, Mich., to march with her toddler daughter — whose stroller bore a sign reading "Immigration Stole My Daddy" — in honor of her husband, Joaquin, who was deported to Honduras last year.
"He's never committed any real crime, and there's no protections in the laws for families," Rosa said. "I miss him like crazy. I need my husband to come home and my child needs her father, and our immigration system needs to protect families first and foremost."
Though the crowd was sizable, it paled in comparison to past celebrations in Grant Park that drew hundreds of thousands — a fact not lost on some of Sunday's marchers.
"It's disappointingly small," said Rachel Serra, 30,of Pilsen. "I think that as people have been marching and advocating year after year and nothing seems to happen, the crowds are inevitably going to get smaller. But I don't see political action and movement as something that's really linear. It's all just a part of the process."
cdrh...@tribune.com
Martha Olvera of Schaumburg (front, center) waves the flag of the United States of America during the May Day rally before the start of the march in Chicago from Union Park to Pilsen. (Heather Charles/Tribune)
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