Press Coverage of the Aug 25 – Rally and March
Posted 6:56 PM, August 25, 2018, by Mike Lowe
WGN TV
CHICAGO — Fifty years ago, the world watched as anti-war protesters faced off against Chicago police during the Democratic National Convention.
On Saturday, some of those present returned to Grant Park to share their memories at a peaceful demonstration against war and police violence.
“I heard about it [and] I went out and started taking pictures and I got fascinated because there was so much stuff going on,” Al Lieberman said. “It was like a circus, a three-ring circus.”
Lieberman was a 29-year-old teacher living in Lincoln Park during the ’68 riots. He had just gotten a new camera and went out to test it at the anti-war protests surrounding the Democratic National Convention in downtown Chicago.
“It caught me,” he said. “I just started taking pictures, and I stayed every day.”
Lieberman took more than 3,000 photos over the course of a week. Protesters raising peace signs as workers raised the John Hancock building. He caught images of peace and protest, upheaval and unrest.
“I saw peace, I saw blood, I saw music in the park, I saw dancing in the park,” Lieberman said. “It was all going on at the same time.”
Lieberman was one of about 125 people who gathered Saturday to remember the riots. Also present was 66-year-old Bob Rudner, who was just 16 when the riots broke out. He said he was watching “2001: A Space Odyssey” when protests spilled over into the movie theater’s lobby.
“The first billy club hits the McCarthy button,” Rudner recalled. “The second hits the back of my head.”
Organizers said the point of Saturday’s march was not nostalgia — but to show the urgency of speaking up when those in power are acting in an immoral way.
“The scars of the riots are still here,” Rudner said. “And we’ve got to confront racism in this country.”
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By Bob Robert, News Radio 78
August 25, 2018 – 5:32 pm
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A small Daley Center rally and march to Grant Park Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the violent confrontation between protesters and police that marred the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Fifty years ago, the protesters’ manta was ‘The Whole World Is Watching.’ Only about 150 people turned out to this protest, which remained peaceful.
Activist Kathy Kelly believes the message of the ’68 protests still reverberates.
“People around the world who bear the brunt of our wars are watching and asking, what have we done,” she said.
Other speakers said the 1968 protests helped spark the environmental movement, gay rights and women’s liberation movements.
Protesters concluded the march by gathering at the General John Logan monument in Grant Park, the site of some of the harshest confrontations of the ’68 convention.
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ABC 7 News
Duration 03:34
Five decades after anti-war protestors clashed with Chicago police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, another wave of activists took to the streets.
By Evelyn Holmes
Updated 2 hrs 42 mins ago
CHICAGO (WLS) — Five decades after anti-war protestors clashed with Chicago police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, another wave of activists took to the streets.
Al Lieberman was just 29 years old then. Armed with a camera, the Skokie native captured what he witnessed that August day in Grant Park as protests over the Vietnam War and political discontent bubbled over.
RELATED: Days of Rage: Timeline of the 1968 Democratic National Convention
“After it was all done I realized how big it was,” he said. “It’s all people talked about. And 50 years later, they’re still talking about it.”
Steven Flowers was a 15-year-old student activist and junior ROTC cadet. He, too, witnessed the violence that erupted on Michigan Avenue in front of what was then the Conrad Hilton Hotel.
“I was on the west side of Michigan Avenue and there was tear gas all over the park. It looked like a big cloud. I was like, ‘I gotta get away from this,'” he said.
On the 50th anniversary of the protests, organizers of the August 25 event say the issues of injustice still remain.
“Today, when we have America’s longest war in Afghanistan and Iraq, those lessons are urgently needed as well,” said Andy Thayer, part of the Chicago Committee Against War and Racism.
Present-day attendees drew comparisons between the current political climate and that of 1968, hoping to re-capture the energy of the past to bring about change.
“If you don’t have a screaming opposition to scream at that, it will take over,” said Katy Nielsen, a present-day protestor. “Here we are 50 years later and not only is it continuing, it’s worse now in a lot of ways.”
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Processo Digital
Sábado, 25 Agosto 2018 15:09
Chicago (EEUU).- Dos centenares de personas, en su mayoría rondando los 70 años de edad, recordaron hoy la represión policial ocurrida en agosto de 1968 en Chicago (EE.UU.) durante una protesta contra la Guerra de Vietnam mientras se celebraba en la ciudad la Convención Nacional Demócrata.
“Chicago 1968 fue un importante momento de enseñanza”, dijo Andy Thayer, de la Coalición de Chicago Contra la Guerra y el Racismo, que organizó el evento celebrado en la Plaza Daley, del centro de la ciudad.
Los eventos de hace cincuenta años, dijo Thayer, fueron claves para convencer a la gente en el país de que la Guerra de Vietnam tenía que terminar.
“Ellos, los pacifistas de esa época, lograron detener a la guerra más larga de ese entonces,” afirmó Thayer ante unas doscientas personas que lamentaron lo ocurrido entonces, cuando el presidente era el demócrata Lyndon B. Johnson.
Una pacifista que vivió lo ocurrido el 25 de agosto de 1968 fue Kathy Kelly, fundadora de Voces Para la No-Violencia Creativa, cuando ella apenas tenía 17 años.
“Mucha, mucha gente desafió y retó a la Convención Nacional Demócrata porque nosotros queríamos que la guerra llegara a su fin”, recordó Kelly en declaraciones a Efe.
Después de los eventos en Chicago, en donde decenas de pacifistas fueron golpeados por la Policía local, Kelly decidió dedicar su vida al pacifismo y llegó a pasar un año en prisión federal en 1988 por un acto de protesta en Kansas City, en el estado de Misuri.
Al hablar al frente de los manifestantes, Kelly aseguró que los problemas de educación, medio ambiente, pobreza y enfermedades se podrían resolver fácilmente si se optase por la diplomacia en vez de gastar el dinero en la industria militar.
Tras la concentración en la Plaza Daley, los participantes marcharon rumbo al Parque Grant, donde se encuentra la estatua ecuestre del general John Logan, lugar desde el que marcharon cientos de pacifistas el 25 de agosto de 1968 rumbo al cercano Hotel Hilton cuando la Policía de Chicago los comenzó a golpear y arrestar.
Kelly dijo a la audiencia que hoy en día este país lleva a cabo muchas guerras simultáneas, por lo que es “difícil mantener la lista actualizada y recordar cada una”, y urgió a la audiencia luchar por la paz.
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por Contacto Hoy – agosto 25, 2018
Chicago (EEUU), 25 ago (EFE).- Dos centenares de personas, en su mayoría rondando los 70 años de edad, recordaron hoy la represión policial ocurrida en agosto de 1968 en Chicago (EE.UU.) durante una protesta contra la Guerra de Vietnam mientras se celebraba en la ciudad la Convención Nacional Demócrata.
“Chicago 1968 fue un importante momento de enseñanza”, dijo Andy Thayer, de la Coalición de Chicago Contra la Guerra y el Racismo, que organizó el evento celebrado en la Plaza Daley, del centro de la ciudad.
Los eventos de hace cincuenta años, dijo Thayer, fueron claves para convencer a la gente en el país de que la Guerra de Vietnam tenía que terminar.
“Ellos, los pacifistas de esa época, lograron detener a la guerra más larga de ese entonces,” afirmó Thayer ante unas doscientas personas que lamentaron lo ocurrido entonces, cuando el presidente era el demócrata Lyndon B. Johnson.
Una pacifista que vivió lo ocurrido el 25 de agosto de 1968 fue Kathy Kelly, fundadora de Voces Para la No-Violencia Creativa, cuando ella apenas tenía 17 años.
“Mucha, mucha gente desafió y retó a la Convención Nacional Demócrata porque nosotros queríamos que la guerra llegara a su fin”, recordó Kelly en declaraciones a Efe.
Después de los eventos en Chicago, en donde decenas de pacifistas fueron golpeados por la Policía local, Kelly decidió dedicar su vida al pacifismo y llegó a pasar un año en prisión federal en 1988 por un acto de protesta en Kansas City, en el estado de Misuri.
Al hablar al frente de los manifestantes, Kelly aseguró que los problemas de educación, medio ambiente, pobreza y enfermedades se podrían resolver fácilmente si se optase por la diplomacia en vez de gastar el dinero en la industria militar.
Tras la concentración en la Plaza Daley, los participantes marcharon rumbo al Parque Grant, donde se encuentra la estatua ecuestre del general John Logan, lugar desde el que marcharon cientos de pacifistas el 25 de agosto de 1968 rumbo al cercano Hotel Hilton cuando la Policía de Chicago los comenzó a golpear y arrestar.
Kelly dijo a la audiencia que hoy en día este país lleva a cabo muchas guerras simultáneas, por lo que es “difícil mantener la lista actualizada y recordar cada una”, y urgió a la audiencia luchar por la paz. EFE
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Elvia Malagon
Chicago Tribune
Dickelle Fonda was a college student in New York in 1968 protesting the Vietnam War when chaos erupted in Chicago as like-minded activists descended on the Democratic National Convention.
On Saturday, she and more than 100 other activists retraced the steps of those protesters while drawing attention to war, racism and poverty that is still taking place abroad and in Chicago. The rally to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the contentious protests started at Daley Plaza, snaked around City Hall and ended in front of the Gen. John Alexander Logan Monument at Grant Park, which was one of the sites of the 1968 protests.
“It’s hard to imagine that we are still doing this 50 years later,” said Fonda, who now lives in Evanston. “For me, I don’t know if it will make a difference or if I’ll be able to change it in my lifetime, I haven’t in 50 years. But I cannot not do it, does that make sense? I cannot not do it. So we keep coming back.”
In 1968, activists descended on Chicago to protest the Vietnam War and were met with a heavy police presence that included the National Guard. Then Mayor Richard J. Daley told reporters, “Gentlemen, let’s get the thing straight once and for all. The policeman isn’t there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder!” But Chicago officials and police would later be criticized for its response to the protests.
Saturday’s rally was much more peaceful than the protests in 1968, and it ended with a group photo in front of the Logan monument. Chicago police officers on bicycles surrounded the group as they marched through the Loop, chanting against police, war and politicians such as Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Tourists on sidewalks stopped to take photos of the crowd. Two men joined the group in a chant against Chicago police while another man yelled, “Don’t believe him,” while one of the organizers spoke.
Andy Thayer, an organizer of the rally, said the rally and march were meant to draw attention to efforts still needed to end the U.S. involvement in wars. He said activists learned bitter lessons from the 1968 protests that were later used by movements that helped end the war in Vietnam and establish abortion rights, and also were used by the Black Panthers.
“The lesson learned was that people could not depend on any major party,” Thayer said before the rally. “The movements after that actually began relying on their own strength and their own people rather than hoping to get salvation from someone higher.”
At Daley Plaza, speakers talked about issues ranging from Palestine to civilian oversight of investigations of abuse by Chicago police officers. Natasha Erskine, a member of Chicago Veterans for Peace, told the crowd they needed to focus on “demilitarizing” Chicago public schools, arguing students need more counselors rather than resource officers.
“We need to evolve past the old mindset that young people need discipline over mentorship, over innovation and over progressive ideas of what it looks like for our young folks to be in a school,” Erskine told the crowd. “They should be in a safe haven.”
Among those in the crowd were Madeleine Cooley, 77, and her husband, Ron Cooley, 79, who didn’t attend the protests in 1968 because they were busy tending to their two young children at the time. The couple was worried about Vietnam War, though, and knew people who were drafted to fight oversees.
The Downers Grove couple have spent the decades since then marching against war and writing to their lawmakers. Madeleine Cooley said she remembers writing to politicians about gun reform when her daughter was in college in the 1980s. And though they aren’t sure how much impact they’ve made, they don’t have any plans to stop marching for change.
“You know what,” Madeleine Cooley said. “You have to do something.”
Twitter @ElviaMalagon
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Turkish Story:
ABD’nin Chicago kentinde savaş karşıtı protesto düzenlendi.
26 Ağustos 2018 Pazar 01:21
ABD’nin Chicago kentinde savaş karşıtı protesto düzenlendi.
Daley Meydanı’nda başlayan protestoya farkı aktivist gruplarından 200’den fazla kişi katıldı. Meydanda toplanan kalabalığa hitap eden konuşmacılar, ABD’nin sınır ötesinde gerçekleştirdiği operasyonların insan hakları ihlali olduğuna dikkati çekerken, savaş için harcanan paranın iş, sağlık ve eğitim amacıyla kullanılması gerektiğini ifade etti.
Konuşmaların ardından Chicago Belediyesi etrafında tur atan protestocular, Büyük Park’ta bulunan Logan Anıtı önüne kadar yürüdü.
“Savaşa hayır”, “Mültecilere evet, savaşa hayır” ve “Cinayet uzakta da olsa cinayettir” yazılı pankartlar açan göstericiler yol boyunca, “Paralarımız iş, eğitim ve sağlık için harcanmalı, polis ve savaş için değil”, “Mültecilerin, siyahların, esmer ve beyazların da hayatları değerlidir” ve “Filistin’e özgürlük” şeklinde sloganlar attı.
Polisin yoğun güvenlik tedbirleri aldığı gösteri olaysız sona erdi.
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San Diego Union Tribune
Imagen del 24 de agosto de 2008. El veterano de Vietnam y defensor de la paz Ron Kovak dice unas palabras durante la manifestación “Recreate 68” convocada cerca de la sede de la Convención Demócrata en Denver, Colorado (Estados Unidos).
Dos centenares de personas, en su mayoría rondando los 70 años de edad, recordaron hoy la represión policial ocurrida en agosto de 1968 en Chicago durante una protesta contra la Guerra de Vietnam mientras se celebraba en la ciudad la Convención Nacional Demócrata.
“Chicago 1968 fue un importante momento de enseñanza”, dijo Andy Thayer, de la Coalición de Chicago Contra la Guerra y el Racismo, que organizó el evento celebrado en la Plaza Daley, del centro de la ciudad.
Los eventos de hace cincuenta años, dijo Thayer, fueron claves para convencer a la gente en el país de que la Guerra de Vietnam tenía que terminar.
“Ellos, los pacifistas de esa época, lograron detener a la guerra más larga de ese entonces,” afirmó Thayer ante unas doscientas personas que lamentaron lo ocurrido entonces, cuando el presidente era el demócrata Lyndon B. Johnson .
Una pacifista que vivió lo ocurrido el 25 de agosto de 1968 fue Kathy Kelly, fundadora de Voces Para la No-Violencia Creativa, cuando ella apenas tenía 17 años.
“Mucha, mucha gente desafió y retó a la Convención Nacional Demócrata porque nosotros queríamos que la guerra llegara a su fin,” recordó Kelly en declaraciones a Efe.
Después de los eventos en Chicago, en donde decenas de pacifistas fueron golpeados por la Policía local, Kelly decidió dedicar su vida al pacifismo y llegó a pasar un año en prisión federal en 1988 por un acto de protesta en Kansas City, en el estado de Misuri.
Al hablar al frente de los manifestantes, Kelly aseguró que los problemas de educación, medio ambiente, pobreza y enfermedades se podrían resolver fácilmente si se optase por la diplomacia en vez de gastar el dinero en la industria militar.
Tras la concentración en la Plaza Daley, los participantes marcharon rumbo al Parque Grant, donde se encuentra la estatua ecuestre del general John Logan, lugar desde el que marcharon cientos de pacifistas el 25 de agosto de 1968 rumbo al cercano Hotel Hilton cuando la Policía de Chicago los comenzó a golpear y arrestar.
Kelly dijo a la audiencia que hoy en día este país lleva a cabo muchas guerras simultáneas, por lo que es “difícil mantener la lista actualizada y recordar cada una”, y urgió a la audiencia luchar por la paz.
Copyright © 2018, The San Diego Union-Tribune
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New PSA for the event – please share widely
“Why the Chicago ’68 Convention Matters Today” by Andy Thayer
For more information about the event and for press inquiries:
email – ccawr825@gmail.com
phone – (773) 209-1187
July 24 2018 – Press conference coverage
Audio recording of the press conference recorded by Dale Lehman for WZRD-FM
The Sun-Times covered the announcement of August 25th protest on the 50th anniversary of the Chicago ’68 Democratic Convention:
Chicago Tribune coverage of July 24 press conference.
Windy City Times coverage
Press Conference:
50 Years Since the Democratic Convention in Chicago
1 pm, Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Location: General John Logan Statue in Grant Park, scene of the most iconic protests against the 1968 Democratic Convention, corner of 9th Street and S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
News conference announcing protest against war and police violence on the 50th anniversary of the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
At a time when the United States is using drones to bomb probably more countries than at any time since World War II and police violence continues to rock Chicago politics, the legacy of the anti-convention protests and movement against the Vietnam War carry important lessons for today.
Chicago Committee Against War & Racism (CCAWR), organizer of the 10,000-strong march on Lake Shore Drive at the start of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Speakers will feature key members of today’s anti-war movement, including:
- Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-Violence
- Vicki Cervantes of La Voz de los de Abajo
- E J Jenkins, District 31 youth organizer with the Steelworkers Union
- Natasha Ersk of Veterans for Peace
- Vince Emanuel, Marine Corps vet of the Iraq war and noted anti-war speaker
- Rich Whitney, co-chair of the Illinois Green Party