By Amalia Huot-Marchand
Medill Reports
On Inauguration Day, 80 Chicago organizations came together to protest the new Trump administration and its agenda. Among the groups protesting were the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; the Arab American Action Network; the Chicago Teachers Union; Mijente, a political organization defending the rights of Latinx people; and the HANA Center, a nonprofit organization helping Asian-American and immigrant communities. Some remarks made by the organizations during the protest included the need to protect immigrants, the administration’s turn towards fascism, the failure of the Democratic Party, the misogyny within the new administration, the new wave of political violence and the need to create a broad movement.
Transcript:
MUHAMMAD SANKARI: Today, our movement is going to mark the beginning of our fight against this incoming racist, fascist regime.
PROTESTERS: All power to the people! All power to the people! All power to the people! All power to the people!
SANKARI: We’re here amongst over 80 different organizations today that have come together under the banner to stop the Trump agenda.
MARTIN UNZUETA: Queremos decir á esta administración, no nos vamos a dejar. Aquí estamos, y no nos vamos a ir. Aquí nos ha creado nuestra familia, aquí nos pagan impuestos, aquí tenemos nuestras casas, no nos vamos a ir.
Translation: We want to tell this administration we will not leave. We are here, and we will not go. Here, we have founded our families, here we pay our taxes, here we have our houses. We will not leave.
PROTESTERS: When our communities are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!
DANAE KOVAC: A big part of our fight is making sure that our immigrant communities know our rights and are equipped to exercise those rights in every situation, wherever we are.
ANGEL CRUZ: America siempre ha sido grande. América también es grande hoy, gracias al labor y trabajo de millones de trabajadores latinos.
Translation: America has always been great, and America is still great today thanks to the labor and work of millions of Latino workers.
SANKARI: It’s not any of our community’s fault that we ended up with a racist misogynist in office. It lands at the feet of the Democratic Party that did not deliver on any of their promises.
FAAYANI ABOMA MIJANA: Yeah, we believe that Trump is a symptom of a system in decay, and the only way that we can resist Trump is coming together and building a broad and deep movement.
PROTESTERS: The border wall, shut it down! What about ICE? Shut it down! And CPD? Shut it down! The whole damn system, shut it down!
Amalia Huot-Marchand is a graduate multimedia journalism student at Medill, specializing in politics, policy, and foreign affairs. You can find her on LinkedIn and contact her through email at amaliahuot-marchand2025@u.northwestern.edu
