This week in Chicago is the NATO summit and for the past
couple of weeks the drums of protest has been beating throughout Chicago and I
refuse to answer to that call. In fact I’ve
ignored it on purpose because I do not believe that these protests will have
the impact that people are always expecting.
Not to say people shouldn’t protest they should but they need a clear
cycle of events and I just don’t see it.
I will explain why in a minute but let me share a sample of
one of many protest I have participated in before…back in 1996 I worked for the Chicago
Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) under the directorship of John Donahue. John was a former priest and one that could kick
your ass clear across town both physically and intellectually! At that time we were under the regime of Rich
Daley and he was spending millions on building in the center of the streets in
downtown the flower planters that Chicagoans have grown to love. Some of these projects ran as much as $14
million and as homeless advocates that were fighting for every penny we thought
it would be better to invest that $14million in homeless services (today CCH is
still trying it’s hardest to avoid the state from cutting funding to homeless
services.) So we all sat down as a team
and started to brain storm on ideas, I’m not sure how it came about but the
idea of “Tree man” came into play. The
idea was that we would get one of our homeless leaders to dress up as a tree to
follow Daley around the city the week before the DNC convention of 96 here in
Chicago. Well we set it up and one of
the brightest people at CCH somehow got the phone number that is for
media only that gave a daily recording of where Daley would be. We used that number to track Daley and followed
him to events and it was fun the first day because no one expected it. Back then it was easy to get close to Daley
so much so that by the end of that week I was walking side by side Daley trying
to get him to commit to a meeting with CCH. He called me by my first name and
told me to leave him alone and I said that I couldn’t because he was the target
so he rolled his eyes and made a motion to his body guards…the point here is
that it was a clear target with a clear purpose and we dressed a man up as a
tree because that is what we were talking about.
So why do we have so many people dressed up in military
fatigues and covering their faces with the American flag as a mask? I do not see the purpose behind this
is. I understand why people protest NATO
but some of the chants and what people are wearing to show they are protesting
as well sometimes leads to confusion.
See here is my problem and don’t take it like I’m bashing anyone because
of the color of their skin but when I see white kids dressed like that and
covering their faces with American flags or bandanas I have to question what they are
really doing there. Not to say they don’t
have a right but I base this thought on the fact that I have sat, watched, and
listened to Occupy Chicago live streams at night and some of these same kids
talk about how they need to go back to the dorms and study. Nothing wrong with that but when the mention
of Northwestern and Columbia and DePaul come up I have to sit back and play a
movie in my head about what is going on.
I’m well aware of the injustice in our society and I have
spent most of my life on the “wrong side of the tracks” according to mainstream
society and I’ve never seen these kids unless they were out in the hood buying “medicine.” Not to say that these same individuals are the
one’s I’m talking about and I guess you can say I am shoving them all into one category
and I don't mean to do that. The truth of the matter is when you’ve been out on the street you develop a
sense of who does what by their actions and habits and some of these kids have some familiar habits. So it’s not hard for me to point out a pot
smoker and now some of you are rolling your eyes saying “weed!? Come on!” I know it sounds a bit prudish but here is
the reality 50,000 Latinos have been killed due to the drug demand here in the
USA in the last 6 years. I don’t think
the US military have suffered that much since they started in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003. Doesn’t this bother you? If you live in Chicago Mexico is only 1386
miles to the boarder but Chicago to Iraq is about 6420 miles and that’s who you
are concerned about?
Don’t get me wrong I completely disagree with the invasion
of those two countries and for the invasion of Iran as well….Oh sorry I’m
jumping ahead here….but way before I protest that I have to clear up my
backyard and stop the war that this country is not only supplying but
advocating for and it’s the drug war in Mexico.
Maybe it doesn’t mean anything to you because you might not feel a
connection with Mexico other than a nice cold Corona or a Dos XX commercial but
what connection do you have to Iraq? I’m
not only speaking to the white kids I brought up earlier I’m talking to
everyone at these protest? Some will
have strong connections to Iraq and other countries but the issues here at home
are not being addressed. I know people
will say something about immigration and the foreclosures and to be honest
those are safer issues then to talk about people actually dying just over 1300
miles south of Chicago. Not only over
there but also here in the city we are suffering from the same issue of drugs
but when these issues come up everyone hops over to the other side of the fence
and start damning gang members and they join forces by calling the same police
they want to protest against. See how
this becomes confusing?
Protest yes please do, but I ask YOU then where do you stand
when it comes down to drugs in this country?
Is it really “Shorty” on 66th and King Drive fault that
Americans are consuming Cocaine, Heroin, etc…? Maybe it’s “Chico” on Rockwell and Potomac that
is driving America down. Or maybe even “John” at Stevenson HS that has been
bringing in Heroin on his private jetliner that is the root of this evil…
I know everyone has their “cause” and not one is more
important than the other but there is some clear issues that have been avoided
due to just not wanting to deal with it and that’s what is really driving
America down, YOU not caring enough.
Just saying…
Peace/AMOR
Gerardo
