Something historic happened last night, Thursday 12-4-2014. and I ended up in the midst of it. I was actually in Chicago for a hot date when I stopped at a small protest at Jackson and State along the way to her apartment. After listening to them rail against this recent wave of police violence, someone I knew from a previous anti-war march asked me to join this one. I figured, why not, and boy if I only knew what I was in for. As more joined us, we started marching south on State Street, that great street, ending up somewhere around Roosevelt, where we began zigzagging around several blocks as Chicagos Finest blocked us from entering one street or another. We went westward to U. of I. on halsted Street; and we did a couple of brief die-ins. That is, wed stop to lie silently in the street as if dead, victim of a Killer cop. The crowd of marchers grew larger, and every cop in the City must have been called up. They even had State troopers to keep us off the 94 Dan Ryan. There was more than one copper chopper above us the whole night, but they didnt have any dogs or horses for some reason. As far as I know, my guide dog was the only dog on either side. You might easily pick us out in a video. My bow wow was wearing a Santa suit, and I was wearing a Santa hat, so you might say we were both Santa-tized -- boooo, hiss! and the jokes can only get worse. We ended up marching down the Congress Expressway, between the old and new Post Offices, where many including some postal workers tooted their horns with thumbs up. We went north on State Street, that great street, and then onto Michigan Avenue. A couple of times, I almost jumped off at the nearest subway station to hook up with that chick, but that date had to wait, because the crowd continued to swell as the future of freedom was on the line. When Fascism is on the march, you must march against it, so I decided to see it through. The Ferguson chant was the most popular: Hands up, dont shoot! For most of them, the girls would lead with, Hands up! and the boys would follow with, Dont shoot! I dont think is was planned that way, but it gave it a cool ring. Some other chants were: Shut it down! Black lives matter! No justice, no peace! plus Eric Gardeners infamous last words, I cant breathe! and that one I remember from the Wall Street Occupation, Whos streets? our streets! There also was: Hey, hey, ho, ho, racist cops have gotta go! Hey, whats a march without a few hey, hey, ho, hos? Even those right-wingers must march with something like: Hey hey, ho, ho, taxin the rich is a big no-no! Regulation on Wall Street has gotta go! Keep all dem wages real low! Though it was essentually a march against White privilege, there were a whole lot of Whites in the crowd opposed to any return of Jim Crow through a NeoCon Neo-Fascist slave state. I believe these issues go beyond Blacks, because the forces of fascism will eventually bring a jackboot down on the necks of everyone, including Whites whore not part of the One Percent. Im really surprised at the zero presence of Hispanics, however, as far as I can tell. Why is that? Are those with origins south of the Rio Grand thinking something like they must collaborate with the racists so they can move up in the new hierarchy as Blacks are moved down or maybe even totally out? You know, just as the American Indians were sort of moved asside to be replaced by, how should we say, those involuntary immigrants from Africa, and maybe they hope to be a higher paid class of slaves. I say, shame, shame! which is another protest chant used when the forces of fascism is stomping its jackboot on someone. We really pulled off a coup when we marched onto Lake Shore Drive, right through all eight lanes, plus sometimes the side street. Those infamous Chicago potholes got me a couple of times; so yes I do admit, I was tripping on LSD that night -- as well as Michigan Avenue -- boooo, hiss! I did warn you the jokes were only getting worse. The last time I was on LSD was way back when a couple of friends and I were at an NFB convention, and we thought we were on Michigan. I didnt have a guide dog at the time; we were all using a white cane. After crossing eight lanes of rush hour traffic, I put my hand on a cyclone fence and said: Gee, I think we just might be a few blocks east of our hotel. Whoops. Whether we were marching on LSD or not, we werent actually stopping traffic, only slowing it down. Most motorists didnt seem to mind, some even cheering us on. That is, most, of course, except for those few with something like a Rush is right bumper sticker, and who never seem to mind being slowed down by a Bears game, a flag-waving kill-em-all war parade or maybe something like a march to end segregation and discrimination against the filthy rich through our tax codes. We marched north on LSD to North Avenue, where something like a showdown occurred as the forces of Fascism set up a roadblock, completely stopping all traffic. I welcomed the rest, and Im sure my bow wow did as well. She was keeping up quite well with the march, especially for an eleven-year-old pup. My last long march was against that NATO summit. Because my dog is trained to more or less stay out of the street, three times she took me off the designated path behind the barricades. Consequently, I spent most of that march at the rear near a truck full of police dogs in cages. They let everyone know in uncertain barks that they werent happy about being cooped up, while my dog was on the march. It was almost 4 hours, and I sure was regretting that heavy backpack. Some young gal offered to tote my pack, and I became an unshivalrous ungentleman and briefly handed it over to give my shoulders some freedom. Some of these yutes sure had a lot energy. some cane to the march after a union protest against low wages. To the best of my knowledge, I must say the police were on their best behavior. They didnt seem gunning for battle, hiding behind masks in those Ninja Turtle outfits, while busting heads. I left as the crowd gradually disbursed, but many others turned around and marched south on LSD. As far as I know, it didnt get ugly as with the end of that long hot anti-NATO march from Grant Park almost to McCormick Place. Two times I remember mass arrests of the Occupation of Grant Park a few years back. Each time I managed to slip away just before feces made sudden contact with the oscillating high-revolution air circulation devise, so I really dont know. I never did make that date. I took the Blue Line all the way to a stop before OHare airport, but just missed the last bus going by her apartment, so I rode the Blue Line back downtown, where I caught the last train to Joliet. Back in my comfortable little house, I soaked my achy little body in my warm whirlpool bathtub. With no regrets, you, know, since women tend to come and go, and I always seem to miss those hot dates anyway, usually through negotiations over how much Im willing to spend. Such is love in a capitalist society. Ka-ching! Fascism, unlike a used condom, cant be easily removed after its been carefully rolled onto society. I believe these reactionary fascists would if they could repeal the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and replace it with another version of the Second. If their 21st Century slavery doesnt work, then theyd be eager to exercise their gun rights and launch a second American Holocaust. The first American Holocaust occurred over several centuries after Columbus arrived. Once they found it harder and harder to exploit the natives, they grabbed 100% of the land, wiped out 95% of the population and replaced them with the cheap labor of kidnapped Africans. Maybe robots will be the replacement this time, but history tends to repete patterns. I dont want to be like those living in Germany and Japan during the 1930s. For many generations after, people would ask: how could something like that happen in your advanced well-educated high tech society? I did my part, so my conscience would be clear. If it does happen here, I dont want it to happen without a fight. In order for it to happen, they need the cops, lots and lots of cops, hardened blood-thirsty cops with lots and lots of firepower and total immunity from those pesky courts. Therefore,I second the motion in this article from the Nation, my favorite lefty pinko-commie mag. Read it and learn; it could only get worse. Welcome to Police State USA.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 10:25:57 +0000
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