From Grant Park to Marshfield Avenue

So I have to take a minute to report on the doings in Grant Park tonight. I saw the tall gangly speck of Barack Obama and the shorter, eager speck of Joe Biden waving to the crowd with their wives after the acceptance speech was over. They had the giant TVs, which is how I saw the speech.

CNN got shots of some local Chicago heroes, like Oprah and Jesse Jackson. I'm sure there will be pictures of Jesse with tears on his cheeks all over the place tomorrow. I saw some people I knew as they panned the crowd: Ald. Rick Munoz (22nd Ward), Marilyn Stewart, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Jack Wuest, director of the Alternative Schools Network and his wife, Maria Whalen, from Voices for Illinois Children.

Connie's Pizza had the concession. They must have made a mint. South Side in da house!

After it was all over I ran into a friend I haven't seen for a long while. She's an African-American lesbian who works for a major news outlet. She put down her notepad long enough to share a big victory hug with me. "If you'd asked me five years ago, even two years ago, I would have said no way," she reflected. It made my night to run into her.

I will give Da Mare props for the speed and efficiency of getting the crowd out of there and for running plenty of trains and buses. At the Ashland Orange Line I lucked out and caught the southbound bus as it was waiting for the light to change. I talked with my seatmate, a nice younger woman who had a ticket to Grant Park but gave it up because she had to work.

When I got off the bus and walked to the corner, Yup-yup was standing around. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," I said back. "O-ba-ma!"

"O-ba-ma," he said back. We met up at the traffic circle. He gave me the fist bump and said, "Tonight, we made history." I hugged him. With Obama in office, just about anything is possible.

Holy Cross/IHM's Letter to McCain and Obama

The immigration committee at Holy Cross/IHM Parish is in the midst of a letter campaign. Committee chair Jose Alonso wrote a letter on the topic of immigration which was read by another committee member during announcements at the 10:30 Mass at Holy Cross yesterday. Parishioners had the opportunity to sign copies of the letter after Mass ended--a bunch of us stood around with clipboards and copies of the letter in English and Spanish. Copies will be sent to both presidential candidates; I just got an email saying over 300 letters were signed and returned. The letter drive will continue next weekend at the 9 a.m. Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Here is the English version of the letter:

“This country does not care about liberty when there are immigration raids taking place.”
- A teenager from the Back of the Yards, Chicago, IL

Recently, several Mexican-American youth from our parish, Holy Cross/IHM, in the Back of the Yards traveled to Philadelphia with our pastor, Father Bruce Wellems. During the trip, the group visited one of the greatest symbols of this country: the Liberty Bell. One young man stood near the Liberty Bell, but he would not look at it. The rest of the group was busy taking pictures, while he stood apart with his head down. Having visited several historic places, our pastor thought that perhaps he was just tired. He then approached the young man and asked if he had seen the Liberty Bell. The young man then made the comment stated above. How can there be true freedom when the government is rejecting the poor and those who are oppressed? How can this be a nation who cares about the freedom of others when they unjustly chase immigrants?

These questions reflect one of the most pressing concerns of the Back of the Yards today, a community comprised predominantly of Mexican-American immigrants. Even now, more than 100 years after Upton Sinclair documented the struggles of immigrants in this small neighborhood on the southside of Chicago, the immigrant spirit of hope lives on. However, the hope that our great country represents is endangered when our community is threatened with tearing apart its families, depriving its children of the right to an education in this country, and losing the opportunity to earn a dignified living.

Admittedly, there was anger in the young man’s statement. Our pastor responded to his statement by reminding him that the Liberty Bell is cracked. It is not perfect, and so too, with freedom – we are still a people who are not completely free. We are still searching for a way to respect the rights of all people and healing is needed. It will take time, but it can only happen with the efforts of those who truly care and believe that freedom, safety and respect of all people is possible. He represents the next generation of Americans and his statement represents the need to reaffirm the values that this country was founded upon. Our pastor was able to point to the following biblical quote inscribed on the Liberty Bell, to comfort the young man, “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto ALL the Inhabitants thereof.”

We are asking for you to be courier of the values reflected in this quote by supporting just immigration reform. This country has a history of compassion towards immigrants and we are now asking you to continue that tradition. We are asking that you be an advocate for our community by: (1) supporting the unification of our families; (2) defending the opportunity to have our children educated in this country; and (3) preserving our chance to earn a dignified living. Thank for your time in reading this letter. Good luck and God Bless.

For more specifics on the kinds of situations many of my neighbors and fellow parishioners are facing, I highly recommend this 2006 article from U.S. Catholic.