Chicago Hoodie Day
June 12, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader:
Chicago, Hoodie Day, June 10, 2013. Photo: Special to Revolution
Downtown Chicago rush hour traffic was jolted awake by a roving march that grew to 75 people wearing hoodies and carrying banners with the image of Trayvon Martin in his hoodie, homemade signs, banners signed by high school students—delivering the message "We Are All Trayvon Martin! The Whole Damn System is Guilty!" The rally and march was part of National Hoodie Day to mark the start of the trial of George Zimmerman—the wannabe racist cop who murdered Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Black youth wearing a hoodie and carrying Skittles and an Arizona iced tea in Sanford, Florida in February 2012.
The group was a mix of nationalities and ages, from people in their 70s to a toddler carried by its mother. Family members of Aaron Harrison and Darius Pinex (both killed by Chicago police) joined the protest wearing hoodies and carrying signs about their sons and linking this to the fight for justice for Trayvon Martin. One of the mothers wore a target on the back of her head with the hoodie up—where the police had shot her son. A former prisoner with his son and wife were in the house, along with activists for prisoners rights and people from Occupy. Several families came to represent—making their own signs.
Describing his feelings about the event a Revolution Club member said, "I came out because I know people forget about things that aren't close to them. And to make people see there were people out here fighting for justice for Trayvon."
Chicago, Hoodie Day, June 10, 2013. Photo: Special to Revolution
Another Revolution Club member said, "I was proud to be there. Proud to be standing up for Trayvon and for my son. We are concerned people and we want to see Zimmerman's ass in jail."
A young white woman told of how glad she was that this protest had been called, how she had known about the trial coming up and kind of put it out of her mind until she heard about the protest. She had so much wanted to do something to express her feelings.
Clyde Young, a revolutionary communist and a former prisoner, spoke passionately to the high stakes involved in this battle. He stressed that there would be no trial if it weren't for the mass outpourings of outrage. Young said that this is just the beginning in terms of winning justice for Trayvon Martin and that the people nationwide need to be in the streets raising the slogan: We Are All Trayvon! The Whole Damn System Is Guilty! and demanding Justice for Trayvon.
Gregory Koger, a revolutionary communist who spent many years in solitary confinement during his youth, drew the connections between the hunger strike called by prisoners at Pelican Bay to protest the torture of indefinite solitary confinement with the struggle for justice for Trayvon and how this is part of building a movement to stop mass incarceration.
The 3 Strikes poster featuring a quote by Bob Avakian speaking of the history of slavery, Jim Crow and now the New Jim Crow was read aloud and at the end a number of the protesters joined in shouting, "That's it for the system, 3 strikes and you're out!"
Protesters wound through the streets of the loop from Daley Plaza to Millennium Park—a major tourist attraction. As people marched into the park there was no hesitation—and no one tried to stop them, even though this showcase Chicago park has been off limits to protests in the past. And then they marched back again.
Along the way people in the crowds making their way home through the evening rush broke into smiles when they saw the march, many raising fists or giving other signs of encouragement. A woman in an African turban across the street jumped up and down in joy upon seeing the protest, raising both fists in the air. And support and encouragement came from people of all ages and nationalities; white middle class people in business attire grinned approvingly, giving words of encouragement to protesters. It seemed like everyone was taking stuff and looking at it seriously.
Young activists from Occupy and the Revolution Club led the chants. People in the protest carried banners that had been signed and/or made by students at high schools and throughout Chicago. In the week preceding Hoodie Day students (as well as teachers and some school staff) had taken up stickers and in other ways had become active in the struggle to see to it that the system can't stamp the murder of Trayvon Martin as "Justified."
Over the past weekend people in the South and West Side ghettos took up similar activity in preparation for the trial as a van with a sound system and a few revolutionaries wound its way through these areas. At one park, young men stopped their basketball game and came off the court to listen to revolutionaries speak about the importance of this political battle and to take up stickers, sign a banner, and rally. Many of the youth there added chants of "Justice for Dakota Bright" and "Justice for Corey Harris," two teenagers murdered by the police in separate incidents. They had both played basketball at that park.
In a neighborhood on the West Side a group of youth playing basketball at a hoop in the street stopped their game and grabbed handfuls of stickers and fliers. As the sound car pulled away, instead of resuming their game these youth took the stickers and fliers and started down the street, handing them out to people sitting on their porches.
Hoodie Day fell on the last day before summer vacation at one alternative school but the handful of students there took it up, signing a banner and posing with their hoodies on. A guard at the school handed out stickers to all the students coming in.
As another Revolution Club member said, "This was a good beginning."
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