Today’s Actions:

10AM:
Tent City at Oprah’s Studio:
HARPO Studios
110 N Carpenter Street

Oprah is a sellout.

She has endorsed the Chicago 2016 bid for the Olympic Games, which
will cause massive displacement and gentrification of the south side
of Chicago.

Despite her empathetic statements on the plight of poor people she
collaborates with the pirating elites of this city, and deserves to be
called on it.

The Coalition to Protect Public Housing is taking their “tent city”
action to HARPO studios tomorrow morning to draw attention to Oprah’s
support of the Olympic bid, and her disregard for the poor and
homeless of this city.

5:00 -7:00pm:
Environmental Justice Vigil
Meet at the bean.
Sponsors: RAN Chicago, LVEJO, Communities of Faith

The Bid Books are now open. Take a look for yourselves.

http://www.chicago2016.org/our-plan/bid-book/bid-book.aspx

Of course, be sure to take this with several, large grains of salt, since these are Chicago2016’s own numbers.

Report Back

Today’s event was an awesome day of resistance. At the Little Village Environmental Justice Oorganization event, 35 of us met at the glass towers. We marched on to Channel 7 street-view news studios, with ~6 bike cops in tow, and we stayed there making lots of noise and messaged chants for 30 or 40 minutes. They did their best to ignore us, ie, sports caster, Mark Giangreco looked pissed off, but with some small smiling acknowledgments from weather guy, Jerry Taft, until they closed the blinds on us. We then went to Channel 2 to do more of the same, ~20 minutes.

We then went back to the bean and met up with more activists from No Games Chicago, Money For Clinics,  Southsiders Together Organizing for Power folks and others from the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, like Willie “JR” Fleming, also of the Hip-hop Congress.  Now there were about 55 of us.  We marched on to the Art Institute. We started off towards the main entrance. The police had also started to arrive in numbers too.  JR pointed out that the entrance to the IOC/Oprah event would be in the back, so we did an about face and headed to Columbus Drive.  We got there and the police would not let us cross.  Several of us clearly observing the cross walk light and well with in the Law called their bluff and crossed any way, saying “We will follow lawful orders.”  After a few minutes of them holding back our comrades, they pointed out that it was now ok to cross again, and they did so, ignoring the police’s illegal order and thus calling their bluff. They did not arrest anyone. We arrived to the spot directly across the street from the Columbus Drive entrance where there was a horde of media. We set up shop there, content enough with this positioning. Apparently the police did not want us within view of the IOC or the media, what a surprise. It warmed my heart greatly to see this group stand up for their rights. A cop approached to let us know that so long as we stay here and not cross that they would be OK with that, that the IOC has a permitted the entire block, that side of the street.  (Freaking arrogance, ugggh!).  Ok, so we carried on a loud , well-messaged protest. It was quite exhilerating. A few folks went quietly a block over and across the street, but ended up in a sort of pissing match with the police and were eventually threatened with arrest if they didn’t go back. An Art Institute student magazine (FNEWSMAGAZINE.com) also came out to interview us, as well as Channel 7 was the only one of the herd of media to cross the street for interviews with us. Many many black SUVs and a few limos came in one by one to deliver IOC’s, etc. They all got a loud message.

When it looked like IOC’s were done arriving, we began to pack up and leave, when finally Oprah shows up. Our folks from 1/2 a block already leaving all came back to party with her. She stayed out side talking to the media for at least 15~20 minutes, all the while having to hear and see us in the background. Chanting, ie: “Oprah, can’t you see, we don’t want the IOC”, etc.  Finally, she went in, so then we finally left. OH, ya, previously, Coco Taylor also got similar greetings. I hope I did not miss too much.

Media Coverage

We did OK enough in getting some air time…  some of these are prety funny. ie while Oprah is trying to talk to media, you can here us clealy chanting “Hey Oprah, cant you see, we don’t want the IOC”..  fun stuff…

====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ===== ===== =====

Sunday anti-IOC TV media coverage:

—- — —- —- —

ABC ch7

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/channel?section=news/local&id=5755445

We got 23 sec’s of a 3 min report. Our protest at 2:36 of 2:59

—- — —- —- —

CBS ch2

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/chicago.2016.bid.2.977824.html

10 sec of 2:40

—- — —- —- —

Ch 5 NBC

Did anyone see it, I skimed the text here and not find any?

http://www.nbcchicago.com/sports/more/ioc-dinner-040609.html

—- — —- —- —

WGN ch 9

http://www.wgntv.com/wgn_news

we got only 9 sec’s of video but the during the extensive Oprah interview, you hear the protesters real good. “Hey Oprah, cant you see, we don’t want the IOC”

—- — —- —- —

FOX, ch 32  ch3

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/

They completely don’t cover us, and you only hear us for 3-4 sec’s during Oprah’s interview.

submitted by Mike d

9AM- Bike Against the Olympics Take 2
Meet at Shed Aquarium: The International Olympic Committee evaluation
team will be on the Chicago lakefront this Sunday, April 5th between
9:00 a.m. and Noon. This is the perfect opportunity to catch them off
guard. They're supposed to be going to the area between 31st ad 51st
along the lakefront path.

11AM- Tent City- Washington Park
Meet @ 55th and Cottage Grove
Bring tents, sleeping bags, flyers, etc and "Welcome the IOC"
Coalition to Protect the Homeless

2009 Forum Against Olympic Oppression

Siegel Hall, IIT campus
3301 S. Dearborn

Sunday, April 5th 6pm

Speakers will include-

-Willie “JR” Fleming of the Hip-hop Congress and Coalition to Protect Public Housing

-Chris Shaw author of “Five Ring Circus: Myths and Realities of the Olympic Games”

-Anne Elizabeth Moore, author of “Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity” and creator of the Unlympic Games

All are welcome at a forum to discuss what activists and community members
can do to stop the International Olympic Committee from devastating the
neighborhoods of the South Side, should Chicago be selected to host the
2016 Olympic Games. The forum is set to coincide with the IOC’s visit to
Chicago, in order to send a strong message to the IOC and the
Chicago 2016 Committee that the city’s diverse communities are already
mobilizing against the Games.

Important issues include gentrification, criminalization of the poor,
policing practices and tourism policy. Dynamic speakers, both from
Chicago and from cities already affected by the Olympics, will present on
these issues, and on the question of how other communities have already
responded. This forum will be an important step to building bridges with
these other communities, a vital element towards developing a new
consensus against the negative affects of the Games wherever they are
held.

The forum is free and open to the public.

Come out to UIC on Sunday, April 5th, and tell the IOC not to have the Olympics here!

There will be a pep rally at UIC on Sunday, April 5th in support of Chicago’s Olympics bid. Those of us who oppose having the Olympics in Chicago must come out to this pep rally and show the IOC how we feel. UIC sent out a mass email to its students informing them about the pep rally. The mass email is pasted below.

Pep Rally Details

Date: Sunday, April 5
Time: 2:45-4:00 p.m.
Place: Harrison Field, northwest corner of Harrison and Halsted

A bike ride was called for last Friday,  April 3, to end with a rally against an IOC event.  We’d appreciate more detailed reportbacks to include.

From Chicago Indymedia:

Anarchist Olympics begin: Local Artist Collective Welcomes the IOC

This past week has left us feeling inspired. The bus stops ads, corporations supporting the bid, flags everywhere, buses themselves, the Olympic spirit has gripped the city. Never have we felt such a sense of pride in our greater community. We owe it all to these fine people, who have been kind enough to grace us with their presence for the week. Word got out about the soiree they were having last night, and we felt the need to do something to show them how the city feels, much more than dinner and drinks ever could. We couldn’t hide our passionate pride for one more day.

April Fools you fucking idiots!

Last night we paint bombed two billboard monstrosities overlooking the Kennedy expressway. They were Olympic advertisements, just like the ones you see every time you turn your head. Except bigger. We kindly suggest fellow citizens to find friends, some eggs, or paint and bombard the advertisements that are trying to sell gentrification, police oppression, profits for the rich, and annoying tourists.

We Won’t Pay!

Fuck the corporate circus, Sabotage the Olympic bid.

The Tribune article:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/04/chicago-2016-mural-defaced.html

Hundreds of people turned up last Thursday, April 2, against the International Olympics Committee’s visit to Chicago.  See pictures here:

http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/86258/index.php