In These Times Executive Director Alex Han argues that what just happened in Chicago—and what happens next in Philadelphia—sets the table for what’s possible for our country in 2024.
by Alex Han, In These Times
As Chicago’s 25,000 teachers walked out on strike in September 2012, I was looking for the right person to come speak about the historic action to a rag-tag group of downtown restaurant and retail workers who were hatching their own ambitious campaign.
I immediately thought of a middle school teacher I knew who’d helped organize the teachers’ strike. As a newly hired organizer at the Chicago Teachers Union, he’d stood out for many reasons. Always dressed in tattered hoodies and torn jeans, he had a willingness to take on ridiculous tasks, like planning a big rally on day three of the strike with just a few hours’ notice. And he could always be counted on by his comrades — once showing up on his bike at 11 p.m., having pedaled nine miles from the West Side of Chicago after putting his kids to bed, to join an encampment of parents and education activists outside of the Board of Education building downtown.
All through summer 2012, those restaurant and retail workers had been meeting weekly at a church just off of Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile to plan a citywide campaign for higher wages, dignity and respect. When that middle school teacher came and spoke, the workers listened. “You’re the ones who really hold the power,” he told them. He was passionate about the need to fight for workers in all communities. They furiously took notes. They were filled with anticipation — and hope.
Recent Posts
Carrying On Kent State’s Legacy Of Antiwar Organizing, Students Press For Divestment
May 19, 2024
Take Action Now Students at Kent State won disclosure of the university’s investment portfolio, but the fight to divest from the war industry is…
Biden Administration Moves To Reclassify Marijuana: A Major Shift In U.S. Drug Policy
May 17, 2024
Take Action Now President Biden’s Department of Justice takes historic steps to reclassify marijuana, aiming to end a ‘failed approach’ and…
‘Worse Than Iraq’: Three Former Biden Officials Explain Why They Resigned Over War In Gaza
May 16, 2024
Take Action Now “There’s just this blind unwillingness to recognize the U.S. does have all the power here – this notion that it’s not really…
Reflections On Student Activism
May 16, 2024
Take Action Now William Hartung, Democracy Versus Autocracy on America’s Campuses By William D. Hartung, Tom Dispatch I’ve spent most of my…