I joined a caravan of 13 community organizers from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) on a 12-hour journey to Washington, D.C. They went to support Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Capitol Hill testimony, defending Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city for immigrants.
Two passenger vans made the trip, leaving from the group’s South Side headquarters. We met up with Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, who flew in to join them. After driving in the rain for most of the journey, we arrived around 6 a.m., just a few hours before the first press conference of the day. This gave us just enough time to get some food before what would be a very long day.
The caravan included a diverse group of people in support of Johnson, including older Chicagoans, younger Millennials, and LGBTQ+ community members. Along the way, I spoke with Patricia Williams from Englewood, who supports Chicago’s sanctuary status: “People been migrating to Chicago for as long as I’ve been in it, and I’ve been in Chicago for 61 years.”
This trip brought up similarities from the civil rights struggle and other liberation movements where Black people fought injustice.
“They was our forerunners,” Williams said. “They set the road for us to be doing what we’re doing now, because they weren’t going to live forever, forever. So somebody had to keep the fight going. I’m part of that fight.”
Virgil Crawford, a West Sider, has made the journey to D.C. more than once, including the Million Man March in 1995.
“I see Brandon Johnson, No. 1, as a Black man who is a Black mayor of a city, [a] major urban city, and understanding … what he is trying to do in terms of working and governing for working people in Chicago,” Crawford said. “It’s important that Black men stand with Black men, especially in this time.”
I got a taste of what grassroots organizing really looks like.
- Organizing goes deeper than what is often portrayed on TV depictions of noisy protests and picket lines.
- Organizing is daily acts of care and showing up for one another.
- Organizing looks like bringing food and water for fellow travelers who didn’t have any.
- Organizers found wheelchair accommodations for Frank Chapman, an elder.
- It looked like taking turns to rest, then taking the wheel.
- Organizing looked like stopping at gas stations to stretch and breathe.
- Organizing looked like strolling at a gentler pace with those who couldn’t go as fast as others.
That ethic of care was even extended to us by Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), who graciously loaned us his D.C. office not only to rest but also to watch the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.
The journey modeled principles of liberation work through meaningful exchanges: checking in on how people were feeling physically, calling for clarification, taking the initiative to do more when a person could do more — everything a true democracy embodies.
As a veteran organizer, Crawford said he is intent on continuing this tradition: “Continuing to be a voice and to take a position on freedom, justice and equality, and just trying to protect our democracy and making sure our rights are protected and not rolled back.”
