Faith leaders and politicians, including Sen. Dick Durbin, focused on the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. Friday as they marched toward the Lawndale house the civil rights leader once lived in to draw attention to housing issues in Chicago.
The West Side march got off to shaky start when a participant objected to the Rev. Michael Eaddy joining the crowd.
Eaddy is on the Chicago Police Board.
“He can’t speak for us,” the man said.
Friday’s walk came roughly three weeks after George Floyd died after a white Minnesota police officer pressed a knee into his neck. Video of Floyd’s death sparked a wave of protests across the country with activists calling for police reform.
March organizers Friday said their demands go beyond policing and extend to better schools, improved hosing, affordable health care and more economic development in the West Side and other parts of the city.
The Rev. Ira Acree passionately described Chicago as a tale of two cities, with policing methods starkly different on the North and South sides. Acree, in his speech, pointed to the video Congressman Bobby Rush released this week of police officers lounging and eating popcorn in his South Side campaign office during the Floyd protests. “It’s no wonder that our people on the West Side feel abandoned,” Acree said.
As the march started on Independence Boulevard near I-290, some tried to soothe the tension over Eaddy’s presence.
“We want economic investment on the West Side,” Eaddy told the crowd.
Ghian Foreman — who is also on Chicago Police Board and said he was struck by an officer during protests in Kenwood this month — encouraged crowd to attend meetings and hold the group accountable. “Police reform, this is the time,” he said.
During the march, Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) stressed the importance of voting. “The power of the ballot is great. All we have to do is come together,” he said.
Participants traveled south to the Stone Temple Baptist Church then to King’s former home at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave.
