Emergency Protest at Dick Durbin’s: No Kavanaugh!
Wednesday September 5
5pm - Belmont and Lake Shore Drive
Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/zFDZ7bZgmAs

With the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the Trump/Pence regime is poised to impose an extreme and long-lasting transformation on the highest court in this country—a major leap in the consolidation of fascism. This is an emergency that requires an emergency response to STOP it; raising “concerns” and “objections” is not enough.

It’s not just that Kavanaugh would eviscerate a woman’s fundamental right to decide for herself whether or not to bear children—which would be reason enough for millions to rise in massive political revolt. With Kavanaugh making a fascist majority, the Supreme Court would be a rubber stamp to the whole Trump/Pence agenda: shredding the separation of church and state in favor of Christian fascism against women, LGBTQ people, science, and the environment; backing xenophobic ethnic cleansing of immigrants and terror against Black people to “Make America WHITE Again”; eviscerating civil liberties, the separation of powers, and the rule of law; unleashing even more vicious torture and military aggression against the people of the world.

The time to act is NOW—this appointment must be STOPPED!

Senate hearings on Trump’s nominee are currently planned to start Tuesday, September 4. Many are calling it illegitimate to even hold these hearings for a candidate nominated by Trump, who is now an unindicted criminal co-conspirator. Still, leading Democrats refuse to commit to enforce “no” votes from party members like Doug Jones—much less do anything to delay or shut down the hearings. In fact, just this past week, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D) even agreed to expedite confirmation of another 15 federal judges nominated by Trump, who has now put one in seven federal circuit court judges on the bench.

From “Democrats Just Confirmed Lots Of Trump’s Judges So They Could Skip Town”:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senate-democrats-trump-federal-judges_us_5b86c0eee4b0cf7b00313783

“Trading this many lifetime positions away for a couple days back home in the dead of August is a metaphor for how myopic the Democrats’ approach has been at this dark moment in history,” said Brian Fallon, who should know since he was previously Schumer’s chief spokesperson.

“An entire branch of government is being lost for generations, and Senate Democrats are willfully blind to it,” Fallon said. “In the coming months and years, these same Democrats will issue outraged statements about the rulings issued by the very judges that they could not be bothered to try to slow down. It is pathetic.”

Here in Chicago, Dick Durbin, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate, has not even said he will oppose Kavanaugh. He says it would be a mistake to boycott the hearings, and he provided cover for this illegitimate nominee when he recently repeated Kavanaugh’s false claims about his “amended views” on whether presidents are subject to the rule of law. Although Durbin talks about how we’re in a brewing constitutional crisis, he and other leaders of the so-called opposition party say that impeachment is off the table, not because they don’t have a majority, but because it must be bipartisan—an impossibility because the Republican Party has essentially transformed into Trump’s party.

People demonstrated in all 50 states on August 26 demanding NO KAVANAUGH - the largest groundswell of opposition to a SCOTUS nominee in history. And yet the Senate hearings are going forward! Pretending this is a normal situation is complicity with the consolidation of fascism and will wreak real havoc with people’s lives. Thinking that the much-hyped “blue wave” in November is the answer, long after Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court for life, is a deadly illusion. All this is happening now, in September, and now is a time for moral clarity and righteous action.

Join us to protest at Lake Shore Drive and Belmont on Wednesday, September 5 at 5pm. We will march to Dick Durbin’s Chicago residence at 3430 N. Lake Shore Drive to respond to this emergency.

WE DEMAND: NO CONFIRMATION OF KAVANAUGH!

WE DEMAND: NO MORE COLLABORATION WITH FASCISTS!

WE DEMAND: THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO!

Illinois Department of Corrections officials abruptly cancelled the successful Stateville prison debate program. UPLC is filing a lawsuit on behalf of the program leader and holding a press conference to talk about why we’re taking legal action. Please join us to support prisoners and their right to programming and self-expression!

Join The Campaign for Welcoming Illinois for a Safe Zones Press Conference this Thursday, August 23 at 4pm at the MCC on Federal St and Van Buren in Chicago.

Why hasn’t Governor Rauner signed the Immigration Safe Zones Act (SB35) into law? Why doesn’t he sign a bill that would limit ICE’s access to schools, libraries, courthouses and hospitals? If Gov. Rauner cares about keeping our communities safe, he would support legislation that moves towards making Illinois a truly welcoming state for all immigrants.

Gov. Rauner needs to take action and support immigrant communities NOW! Time is running out for him to sign the Safe Zones Act (SB 35), No Registry Bill (SB 3488), and the VOICES Act (SB 34). Join us to send a loud and clear message that we need Gov. Rauner to stand with us.

Meet near the North Ave. pedestrian bridge (on the west/Lincoln Park side of the bridge) at noon.

Refuse Fascism will be at The Air & Water Show aka “Air & War Show” this Sunday. The military will be showing their finest planes. As Trump amps up his military budget and John Bolton having Trump’s ear on Iran, the planes that people will see more than likely be murdering people - in Iran? other countries? as bombs drop, killing adults and kids in our name - if the Trump/Pence regime is not driven out.
Whether one has faith in the current American system or wants it overthrown, we’re all against FASCISM!!! Refuse Fascism will make a presence at this event to raise awareness of the Fascism put forth currently by the Trump/Pence regime ranging from kids cages, refugee families locked in bars with no trial, the Muslim ban in full effect, along with future wars meant to “put this country back together again.” Come to get to know this movement and Refuse to Accept a Fascist America.

NOTE: Three days of action!

As the DNC gathers in Chicago, help us press the message that the Democratic Party must change.

THREE DAYS in AUGUST could define the future of the Democratic Party and the United States of America.

Will they vote to open up the party?

We need early risers to greet the committee members with a strong and clear message of TRANSPARENCY, OPENNESS, FAIR PLAY as they attend meetings to vote on the rules that will determine the fate of grass-roots access to the party.

Please show up between 8am and 9:30am on any or all of the three days:

August 23, 24, 25. SIGNS PROVIDED

Hyatt Regency Chicago
151 East Wacker

Give the DNC a
WAKE-UP CALL
at the
HYATT REGENCY HOTEL CHICAGO
August 23, 24, 25 (Thurs. | Fri. | Sat.)
8am – 9:30am

WE NEED YOU THERE!!
Let’s show our resolve:

• To ensure a fair election
• To make the Democratic Party democratic
• To end the leverage of superdelegates over the nomination process
• To make the Democratic Party a grassroots party
• To dialogue with 447 members of the DNC face-to-face
• To leaflet and talk to the press

Signs will be provided (or bring your own).

Initiated by RootsAction.org in cooperation with a fast-growing coalition that includes Progressive Democrats of America, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, the Progressive Caucus of Democrats Abroad, and the Adelante Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

Contact: Michael Lynn – MLynn226@gmail.com

Children from the Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois demand that Governor Rauner sign the Immigration Safe Zones Act (SB35) and all the other pro-immigration bills sitting on his desk. Safe Zones will make schools, hospitals and courthouses safer for all communities in Illinois. Children will also drop off hundreds of postcards signed by IL residents! (Thousands were already delivered!)

We’re heading to Grant Park again on 10/13 for another rally and march to celebrate new voters and fire up thousands more to #MarchToThePolls for the 2018 elections. #WomensMarchChi #ReadySetVote To celebrate this announcement and help us create an amazing experience, please consider making a donation of $10.13 today! venmo:@wmchi paypal: PayPal@womensmarchchicago.org

Board Buses to Elwood, IL for Chicagoland Rally

We’re encouraging Chicago area residents to rally and march in Elwood, IL where residents are fighting diesel pollution, and workers are challenging inhumane working conditions in the warehouses.

Join us for a press conference at 9:30 am, and then board buses or hop on the train to travel to Elwood, IL to rally + march.

RSVP and we’ll send you info on how to reserve a bus seat, as well as information about how to travel there by train (we’ll then have shuttles from the train station to the site of the rally).

More info on Elwood:

Chicagoland has half a billion square feet of warehouse space and 150,000 warehouse workers, making it one of the largest concentrations of warehouses on the planet. Many of these warehouses are concentrated in Will County, IL. These warehouses serve as distribution for large corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot. Working conditions in the warehouses are notoriously bad: with poverty level wages, temp positions designed to prevent union organizing, wage theft, lack of basic benefits, unsafe working conditions, and discrimination and abuse. Workers have been organizing for years to demand the rights and respect they deserve. Meanwhile, truck and train traffic have increased air pollution in the region, and residents have been organizing to demand an end to warehouse expansion and cleaner air.

Workers and residents are coming together to demand workers’ rights and a clean environment from the corporations that are benefiting off of these warehouses.

They’re asking Chicagoland to come join them to show solidarity on Sept. 8.

Come fight for Aloha against corporate cultural appropriation!

Aloha Poke Co is a Midwest based restaurant that has aggressively threatened Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) families with legal action for the use of the word “Aloha” in their business or social media. Not only are they capitalizing on an Indigenous traditional dish that they have no rights to, but they also have the gall to try and bar our own people from using a word in our language that has deep cultural meaning and symbolism. A language that up until 1987 was illegal in schools in Hawaii.

Aloha Poke Co.’s lawyers have sent cease-and-desist letters to small businesses demanding they “stop all use of Aloha and Aloha Poke in association with selling your food, products and services” as well as demanding the “removal of Aloha and Aloha Poke from any company name, domain name, Facebook page or other social media site.”

Aloha Poke Co. has yet to confirm how many of these cease-and-desist actions were undertaken by their lawyers. But two small businesses, including a native Hawaiian-owned restaurant, have been forced to rebrand their entire businesses due to this legal threat so far.

The root base of aloha are the words ALO and HA. Alo means presence, or as some kupuna have described it, recognition. HA means the breath of life. Therefore when we as Kanaka Maoli say “Aloha” we are recognizing being in the presence of another person’s breath of life. To threaten suit to Kanaka Maoli families who are simply trying to practice their generations old culture and feed the community? So that you can profit off of a culture and a people that are not yours to sell? That is what we call HEWA.

We as Kanaka Maoli also stand in solidarity with the Algonquin peoples who are the First Peoples of Chicago and were driven from the land by settlers. This is still pertinent because not only do the Algonquin people still live and struggle today, we know from the struggles of working class Chicago peoples that Aloha Poke Co is a part of a progressive wave of gentrification, commodification, and cultural appropriation that is criminalizing and driving out poor and people of color from the urban core.

We understand because half of our own people cannot afford to live in Hawaii due to the cost of living. We as Kanaka Maoli and all those who ally with us seek not only to be free from oppression, but to be free from the use of our culture in the oppression of others. As we struggle to cease the exploitation of our people, lands, culture and foods, so also do we refuse to have our language and culture participate in the gentrification of the homes of our allies abroad.

We call upon Aloha Poke Company, LLC to “cease and desist” from the use of the words “Aloha”, “Aloha Poke” and “Poke” from all current and future businesses. We believe the words “Aloha” and “Poke” belong to the whole Hawaiian culture – not to a U.S. company in Chicago. We understand that this will come at some cost to you, but we think that cost to a multi-million dollar company is comparable to the cost that you have asked these small families to suffer when you have demanded they remove theirs.

Mahalo nui loa, (not copywrited, still not yours to have)