Aug 7

Aug 7 Father Pfleger

Chicago, Demonstrations, Donald J. Trump, Performance, Protest, Public Declarations

Today saw yet another pro-Palestinian demonstration, with the demonstrators returning to the Midwest Offices of the Israeli Consulate General located in the Ogilvie Transportation Center, which houses the main Metra Transportation Center. Unlike the many demonstrations that I’ve seen over the past 22 months, this one was organized by Father Michael Pfleger, the social activist who is also heads St. Sabina Catholic Church, located in Auburn Gresham, a predominantly the predominantly Black neighborhood.

Father Pfleger may have been at other pro-Palestinian, but I don’t recall him leading one. I assume the impetus for today’s demonstration was the expanding famine in Gaza, which has received increased attention over the last several weeks.

As I walked from the gym to the Ogilvie Transportation Center, I couldn’t help but think of Father James Groppi, a firebrand Catholic priest from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Growing up in the Sixties and early Seventies in Milwaukee, I recall Father Groppi, who was a regular on the nightly 10:00 PM local news. Every night my parents watched anchor John McCullough before going to bed. Once they were asleep, I turned on the spare TV in my bedroom to watch Johnny Carson.

Groppi led countless civil rights demonstrations. His signature issue was open housing. Groppi led countless marches across the 16th Street Viaduct, which spanned the Menomonee River Valley, where freight trains passed through and mounds of coal and sand sat. The viaduct symbolically represented the city’s racial divide, with Polish factory workers living on the city’s southside and Blacks living on the city’s near northside. The viaduct has since been renamed the James E. Groppi Unity Bridge to honor the civil rights pioneer, who received support from Dick Gregory and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Over the years, Groppi was arrested multiple times, but his efforts were effective, resulting in Milwaukee enacting an open housing law in 1968, shortly after King’s assassination and the passage of the Federal Fair Housing Act. To Groppi’s credit, Milwaukee’s version was more progressive that its federal counterpart.

During his tenure, Groppi also led the Welfare Mothers’ March on Madison (September 29, 1969), where he and his followers shutdown the Wisconsin State Assembly for 12 hours, resulting in Groppi’s arrest and eventual sentencing to six months in jail. The United States Supreme Court invalidated his sentence on due process grounds in Groppi v. Leslie, 404, U.S. 496 (1972).

Groppi also took on the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a club that did not admit Blacks. Many local judges were members. He led demonstrations outside the home of Circuit Court Judge Robert Cannon, who was a member of the club, but who opposed the clubs’ discrimination policy—talk about biting the hand.

When today’s demonstration was over, I approached Father Pfleger, asking him if he recalled Father Groppi. Pfleger’s face lit up. Yep, he remembered Father Groppi. I suspect Groppi may have been an early inspiration.

Most of today’s demonstrators arrived on the two buses that must have originated at Saint Sabina. While I can’t say for sure, I suspect that means that most of the demonstrators came from Father Pfleger’s flock. They did not strike me as regulars at the weekly demonstrations sponsored by the heritage Palestinians. In fact, I saw very few of the now familiar faces that I have encountered for the last 22 months.

Among the speakers, were a lawyer, a representative from the Palestinian Community Network, and Father Pfleger. Unfortunately, I arrived about ten minutes late, so I missed most of Father Pfleger’s initial speech, but he did speak several times during the demonstration. At one point, he became quite agitated, expressing deep anger with Christian nationalists who support Israel. In his mind, they were anything but Christians given their support for a war that has ended over 60,000 Palestinian lives and resulted in famine.

The demonstration differed in one important respect from the many other pro-Palestinian demonstrations that I have attended. It exhibited strong religious tones. Toward the end, Father Pfleger called for five minutes of silent prayer. Much to my surprise, he and his followers went the distance. No talking, and no one cast eyes downward at a cellphone screen. Four or five speaker offered prayers, with the demonstrators joining in.

Pfleger’s parishioners added a nice touch during the speech, when they shouted hallelujahs and other words of support. I felt like I was in a Black church on a Sunday morning. If only Pfleger had brought a gospel choir and a portable organ.

The demonstration lasted no more than an hour. The two school buses then pulled up in front of the Ogilvie Transportation Center.

Pfleger might have been disappointed by the meager turnout. After watching the demonstrators board the buses, I concluded that only one bus had been needed.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]