On March 20th, 2003, shortly after more than 18,000 antiwar protesters marched against the escalation of the war in Iraq, in so doing overtaking control of the six-lane highway of Lake Shore Drive, in one of the landmark protests in Chicago history.

The protest garnered international attention at the time. Some believe that the coverage embarrassed the local administration, who then ordered police to block the march, doing so at the intersection of Michigan and Oak and arresting its participants. The result was the largest mass-arrest in Chicago history (about 860 arrested), with more arrests in one evening than in a week of the vaunted 1968 Democratic National Convention protests.

In subsequent years, activists commemorated the 2003 protest by trying to resume the march down Michigan Avenue, but again facing resistance by the administration. In 2006, activists finally won the right to do so after three years of struggle, but they continued to face resistance by the city. Activists also saw foot-dragging in the courts when activists sued the city over the suppression of the rights of free speech and freedom of assembly; a multimillion-dollar settlement was reached nearly nine years after the Lake Shore Drive takeover (the lawsuit over the war protest was longer than the war that was protested against).

For the 10th anniversary, Chicagoans have marched again in downtown Chicago and held a forum on the Iraq war and its aftermath.

Additional Coverage: WBEZ Radio | Chicagoist | Fight Back! News

On Sunday, February 17, thousands of Americans will head to Washington, D.C. to make Forward on Climate the largest climate rally in history. For more details please read these Frequently Asked Questions. http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageNavigator/NAT_Oil_ForwardOnClimate...

16 top climate scientists once again have sent a letter with their concerns about climate change, similar to the one that was ignored 18 months ago:
http://www.indyradio.nu/content/will-obama-pay-attention-top-scientists-...

On Monday, December 3rd, activists began offering bread and soup to feed the lines that formed in Federal Plaza, and after three days of breadlines, we saw the erection of the shantytown called Durbinville. It is long past time for people to recognize the relationship between the suffering Americans endured under Herbert Hoover and what we suffer today. People are calling our leaders to make good on the trust of the people who voted for them and finally "reverse the policies of the previous administration", as FDR was able to boast in his pivotal 1934 State of the Union Address. The event and photos of the shantytown protest

On Tuesday, September 18th, the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted 98 percent to 2 percent to end its nine-day-long strike, the first CTU strike in 25 years. The proposed deal includes a marked salary increase for teachers and the right for teachers to make their own lesson plans. The deal also excludes the threatened elimination of merit pay, lanes (achievement for advanced degrees) and steps (achievement for experience). When asked on Democracy Now! if the CTU won this strike, CTU president Karen Lewis responded: "Absolutely".

And yet, concerns remain over the public education in Chicago, over the detailed language in the deal will actually remain, over the corporatization and neoliberalization of public education in Chicago, and over attempts to break the union. Meanwhile, American schools remain largely segregated on racial and economic lines, and the Rahm "strike is over" television advertisement was paid for by an anti-teachers-union group.

Additional Links: Caucus of Rank and File Educators | Dean Baker: Chicago School Teachers Give Us All a Lesson | A Victory for Solidarity and Struggle | The War on Public Schools | Cartoon: Rahm's Replacement Teachers