Website may explain why there are so many protests these days

Every day brings with it another story about another protest in the City of Chicago.

Most are reportedly peaceful, though not all. Almost all, however, are "Prohibited Gatherings" within the meaning of the current (June 26) Order (No. 2020-9).

Still, the protests go on.

And many seem to be covered faithfully on the day's newscasts.

Why are these events drawing such large numbers?

The Observer Paradox plays a role, surely. The Observer Paradox states that any phenomenon being observed is unwittingly influenced by the presence of the observer. In other words, a TV camera will attract people who want to get on TV just as surely as a bug zapper in the backyard will attract mosquitoes.

And some will say it's the result of boredom (beaches and movie theaters closed, bars closed, hardly any sports on TV), or pandemic-related layoffs or unemployment.

These probably play a role.

But I recently stumbled across another possible explanation: A webiste, called Protest Chicago. The mission statement of the site reads as follows:

The rise of activism has made it difficult for action-minded people to find out where and when people are gathering to raise their voices. The volume of protest events is large and increasing, and it’s hard to find a comprehensive list of events in one place. ProtestChicago.com is an online guide to Chicago-area protest events, striving to consolidate all area protests into one easy-to-use website.

ProtestChicago.com accepts any protest and rally event notifications from progressive organizations and lists them in a simple, clean format. Events are displayed in chronological order, and include all the relevant details – including links to organizers’ own promotional media – with no analysis, opinion, or comment.

Please note that ProtestChicago does not organize events. All information is posted in good faith, from public sources, and may not reflect any last minute changes orchestrated by event organizers. If you wish to contact event organizers, please use the links provided to reach out to them.

Content is limited to progressive public rallies and protests.

Notice that only "progressive" protests may apply for inclusion on the Protest Chicago site. A pro-police rally, or a pro-life prayer vigil, will not receive any mention.

Anyway, thanks to Protest Chicago, when the woke awake each morning, or afternoon, they can merely reach for their phones to find where they can next parade their virtue.

Some days, like today, are doubleheader days.

It's already begun, so unless you're already downtown, you'll probably miss the No Cops No Feds No Secret Police rally now ongoing at the Federal Plaza. Listed sponsors of the event are Black Lives Matter Chicago, Chicago Democratic Socialists of America, the #LetUsBreathe Collective, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, BYP 100 Organized Communities Against Deportations, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Northside Action For Justice, Chi-Nations Youth Council, SOUL - Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, and United Working Families.

Later, everyone can head over to Logan Square Park, starting tonight at 7:00 p.m., for the Logan Square Lockdown:

Sponsors of the event are GoodKids MadCity & Blck Rising.

And tomorrow night the big event is the Freedom Square Anniversary Rally to #DefundCPD, starting at 4:00 p.m., in time for the early evening newscasts, at Homan & Filmore. Sponsoring organizations are listed on Protest Chicago as The Let Us Breath Collective, Chi-Nations, Black Abolitionist Network (BAN), Chi Resists, Black Youth Project 100, and Black Lives Matter Chicago.

The event summary describes what organizers envision for the event... and the future:

DEFUND CPD • DECOLONIZE ZHIGAAGOONG • DEMAND THE CLOSING OF HOMAN SQUARE | Four years ago, we liberated the vacant lot across from CPD black site Homan Square and held a protest encampment for 41 days. We made art, met survivors, fed hundreds of neighbors daily, and declared it an autonomous zone where we imagined our liberated future without police.

Join us this Friday as the campaign to #DefundCPD celebrates the 4 year anniversary of Freedom Square. Our city and our mayor spend $1.8 billion on police each year, and in return they terrorize our youth and brutalize people to protect property. Meet us at Homan & Fillmore on Friday to imagine a world where we divest from torture, genocide, and slavery and invest in our beautiful future....

I'm afraid I did not know what was meant by "DECOLONIZE ZHIGAAGOONG." Perhaps I have sheltered in place for too long.

But, once I knew this was a matter of concern to some people, I was able to obtain a translation. From the Triibe website:

In Chicago, Black, Brown and Indigenous organizers have been fighting for the city to recognize and honor a variety of truths. On July 17, at a Black and Indigenous solidarity rally in Grant Park, they called for the city to defund the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and decolonize Zhigaagoong, a movement to restore native lands to the Indigenous people who lived in Chicago before they were forcibly removed by the U.S. military in 1833. The word “Zhigaagoong” derives from the Native Anishnaabemowin language and refers to the unceded Niswi-mishokdewinan territory east of Michigan avenue.

I mean to express no opinion about the seriousness or sincerity or practicality of the issues put forward by the organizers of these events.

But it occurs to me that we are in the fifth month now of what was supposed to be a two-week shutdown caused by a public health emergency. A public health emergency exacerbated, and extended, by persons gathering in large groups.

The City of Chicago faces any number of serious issues, including an alarming rate in the increase of murders and shootings in several areas, even downtown. Many businesses that closed their doors at the outset of this emergency will never reopen. The jobs and tax revenues produced by those enterprises are gone forever. How long will courts be able to function half-open, half-closed? Traffic court reopened... and closed again. Other businesses reopened but, like bars and restaurants in the City of Chicago, they, too, may close again. Schools, though promising to reopen, may or may not.

If one faithfully follows all the links in this post, one will see that organizers all encourage the use of masks. And that's great. Really. But until we get our world back -- if we can get our world back -- are these gatherings really helpful? Or do they prolong our collective shutdown?