A federal judge has ruled that the Coalition to March on the DNC must remain two blocks away from the convention.
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago from August 19th to 22nd. On Monday night a federal judge in Chicago ruled against the Coalition to March on the DNC 2024, who were appealing the city’s denial of their proposed march route.
The city initially attempted to keep them in Grant Park three miles from the United Center, where the convention will be held. It eventually conceded to their demand to rally in Union Park, which is 15 minutes away. The coalition wanted to march for 2.3 miles on wide streets that pass alongside the convention center, but the city’s route confines them to 1.1 miles, largely on narrow streets and several blocks from the convention center.
A circuit court has been set aside for individual and mass arrests during the convention.
I spoke to Coalition organizer Faayani Aboma Mijana.
ANN GARRISON: Who composes your coalition and what are your demands?
FAAYANI ABOMA MIJANA: Our coalition is over 200 organizations from 21 states around the country, and our principal demand is to stand with Palestine and end US military aid to Israel. We also have secondary demands—stopping police crimes, community control of the police, legalization of all undocumented immigrants, defending the right to unionize and strike, and defending reproductive rights and LGBTQIA rights. These demands ultimately show that we recognize the connection between the deprivation and deterioration of rights for working and oppressed people here, and the funding of endless wars, most specifically for this genocide and occupation of Palestine.
AG: You’ve said you expect tens of thousands of people joining the march. Could you tell us how you came to that estimate?
FAM: We came to that estimate because we've been holding lots of marches and rallies here in Chicago where we have the largest Palestinian American population in the country, roughly 85,000 people. The Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine has played the leading role in mobilizing around these protests since October 7, and we've been holding them every week, sometimes multiple times a week, everything from street protests and marches to bird-dogging politicians. It's that week-to-week practice, the extenuating need to protest this genocide, the growing anger, and the Democrats’ and Republicans’ unity in this genocide that brought us to this estimate.
AG: Did that include communications you’ve had with people planning to bus in from outside Chicago?
FAM: Yes. We’ll have buses coming in from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, even as far away as New Mexico, and within the Chicago area. So this all comes together, combined with the national political situation and the gravity of this Democratic National Convention. It's a high profile event of a party that has abandoned its base.
AG: What have you won by suing the city in federal court to appeal its denial of your proposed march route?
FAM: The city has conceded that we can start from Union Park, about 15 minutes from United Center, but the city is giving us a march route that's only 1.1 miles in length, which won't be long enough to facilitate tens of thousands of people. The march route they’ve given us also doesn't go through main thoroughfares. It just goes on side streets. And we think that exposes protesters to danger.
We should be marching on streets wide enough to accommodate us. The city’s route is also beyond clear sight and sound of United Center.
Our proposed route addresses all of these issues. It's within sight and sound of United Center because we want those genocidal politicians to see and hear us showing that we don't stand with this genocide. Second, it's on main roads. And third, it's long enough to hold the tens of thousands of protesters that we expect.
AG: Have you decided how to respond to their denial of the march route you proposed?
FAM: We’re discussing that now. None of us have applied for permits before this march, but we thought that getting a permit for this march was important to ensure that the tens of thousands of people who come are safe. We want people from all walks of life, all ages, regardless of immigration status, disability, and so forth to be able to come to this march and express their opposition to genocide.
AG: Well, will you now agree to be confined within the route that they're willing to give you? I know this might not be something you want to talk about, but I'll ask anyway.
FAM: We’re discussing the judge’s ruling now and we hope to issue a response tomorrow.
AG: I believe you'll be holding your first rally with speakers at noon in Union Park at 1501 West Randolph. Is that right?
FAM: Yes.
AG: How long are you planning for that rally to go on and how long do you expect the march to last?
FAM: It's hard to be precise about how long a rally will go on, but we expect it to be around two to three hours and then the march itself to be around two hours. The rally will bring together Palestinian organizations and the Black liberation movement from all over the country, including the organization that I'm part of, the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression. It's important to know that the core of this coalition has been Black and Palestinian solidarity. The collaboration between the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression and the US Palestinian Community Network has been the beating heart of this coalition. You can expect to hear from us at the rally.
AG: In a bizarre twist, the city announced that it's going to set up a “free speech platform” where it will provide mics and a sound amplification system in Park 578 at 1919 West Maypole Avenue from 11am to 7pm every day of the convention. Isn't that address right along your march route?
FAM: Yes, that address is right along our march route, but we're not concerned, because we know that it's a sham. That isn't to delegitimize anyone who might go up there and raise genuine issues, but the city is doing that to try to undermine what we're doing.
We're still going to march against this genocide. We're still going to have our rally. We’re going to march by that park where the city sets up its platform. They can do what they're going to do, but we're going to do what we do.
AG: The city even opened up applications for speaker slots of up to 45 minutes at their platform, then closed it on Saturday. Did anyone from your organization apply to speak there?
FAM: Not that I know of.
AG: Do you know of any groups or individuals who did?
FAM: I do not.
AG: And what again, do you think the city is trying to accomplish with that?
FAM: Well, the city is not a monolith. We know the mayor is with us. He came out of the movement. But there are people within the city who want to make life difficult for us because they don't like what we're doing. They don't like that we’re protesting this genocide.
This progressive movement has a pinch of power in city government. Those who don’t like that are digging their heels in and trying to make life difficult for us, but we're going to have this march and we're going to bring tens of thousands of people with us.
The media all know about it. The masses all know about it.
AG: You feel that Mayor Brandon Johnson is on your side?
FAM: Yes. Earlier this year Mayor Johnson broke a tie at the Chicago City Council on a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The US Palestinian Community Network led the organizing around that resolution.
That was unprecedented, for a mayor to go the way of the Palestinian liberation movement. So we see Mayor Brandon Johnson as a friend. Any difficulties that we've had in getting this permit are not because of him. It's because there are a host of federal agencies—Homeland Security, Secret Service, FBI—and even the Democratic Party, who don't want us protesting this genocide. They don't want us to spoil their party but we're going to spoil their party.
AG: The Philadelphia-based Poor People's Army will be marching from Humboldt Park at 4pm on the 19th, starting four hours after the start of your rally. They have a permit to march to the convention steps, since the city failed to respond to their appeal of a permit denial in time.
Have you done any coordination with them?
FAM: We have not done any coordination with them yet, but they are comrades of ours and we support their demands.
Ann Garrison is a Black Agenda Report Contributing Editor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2014, she received the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize for her reporting on conflict in the African Great Lakes region. She can be reached at [email protected]. You can help support her work on Patreon.
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