You Can Help Chicagoans Peacefully Resist ICE - With Whistles!

       Masked and unrestrained Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dressed in getups that look like they're extras in "Terminator 3 War of the Machines,"

...continue to terrorize and tear gas the brown-skinned people of Chicago, 

...and sometimes even the white- and Black-skinned people, like this jounalist who was by-standing when she was thrown to the ground and hand-cuffed;

...or this young priest who was drenched in pepper spray by laughing ICE agents while praying on the sidewalk during a peaceful demonstration;

...or this stunned young guy who just happened to exit Walgreen's at the wrong moment while his sister-in-law kept screaming, "He's a citizen! He's a citizen! He's my brother-in-law!"

         But Chicagoans have started to fight back against ICE - with whistles!
         My daughter Claire and her husband Miguel,

...live in Logan Square, a Chicago neighborhood that has been a frequent target of ICE raids (See previous post: https://www.ailantha.com/blog/my-daughter-lives-in-a-war-zone). In fact, just yesterday morning I received this text from Claire (IMC stands for International Medical Corps, one of the disaster relief organizations she  works for. The helicopters are the ICE Blackhawks that circle the targeted neighborhoods. See previous post):

 
​    One neighborhood over from Logan Square is the mostly Latinx Belmont Cragin neighborhood, where librarian Alonso Zaragoza started Belmont Craigin United.​

     
​     BCU, as it is known, is a  community group that sponsors neighborhood events, such as health fairs, 

​...a restaurant crawl,

​...an upcoming Halloween Trunk or Treat,

​
​...and now, the distribution of ICE warning whistles.

     Seems that Chicagoans have taken to carrying whistles to blow if they spot any ICE activity, such as the convoys of SUV's with black-tinted windows that trawl select Chicago neighborhoods looking for people to pepper spray or throw tear gas at,

​...or for someone to grab and drag off into their SUV.

       
​     The whistles are a warning for people to either run, or form a crowd and start taking pictures and call the ICE response team, (the number of which is on a card included in the whistle packets) to document any incidents.

     
​      As it turns out, though, it's not just the people in the vulnerable neighborhoods who are carrying whistles. Yesterday Claire was biking around the city and she saw pedestrians everywhere with whistles around their necks! They were even wearing their whistles on upscale, touristy Michigan Avenue, where, of course, ICE never goes. 

     But the people were wearing their whistles anyway. Perhaps in a show of solidarity.
     The upshot of this has been that Chicago is now out of whistles. It's well nigh impossible to find a whistle anywhere in the city. While Claire was riding through one largely Hispanic neighborhood yesterday she saw a man standing on a street corner with a trumpet. When she asked him about his trumpet he said that he couldn't find a whistle so he decided to bring his trumpet to blow in case he saw ICE. He said that his brother was guarding the next street corner over and the trumpet would warn him to start blowing, too (It wasn't clear whether the brother had a whistle or was also blowing his trumpet).
      It's pleasing irony that the ICE vehicles that have been hunting on Chicago's streets are now themselves being hunted by vigilant Chicagoans with whistles. Or 
​trumpets.
         So, what the Chicago ICE resistance movement needs right now is whistles and a few other supplies. Belmont Cragin United is making whistle and information packets to hand out in batches to folks for them to pass out all around the city: inside the little sidewalk library boxes, at the grocery stores and food vendors' stands, to anyone they know or see. But Belmont Cragin United needs whistles, lanyards, paper on which to print information, even printer ink and toner. 
         So BCU has set up an Amazon Wish List where people can pick out a package of whistles or some other needed supplies to donate to the cause of peaceful whistle resistance in Chicago. If you feel that you'd like to do something to help Chicago, here' the link to the Amazon page:
​
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2FW2BNE89APG1?ref_=wl​

       The page looks like this:

     
      And on the purchase page the address to which your item will be sent is at the top of the page:

       
        I bought a package of whistles, and also some lanyards.
        If you want you can leave a message for the BCU folks.

       If, perchance, you would like to donate to some other ICE peaceful resistance group, my son-in-law Miguel made up a list of organizations for me to share:

•Belmont-Cragin United Community org that has taken on a growing role in the proliferation of whistle kits for residents of the neighborhoods being heavily hit by ICE terror (Belmont-Cragin, Hermosa, Austin, Logan Square, Humboldt Park)

Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2FW2BNE89APG1?ref_=wl_share&fbclid=IwY2xjawNbZ-lleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFtVGF5UDlyVkQ4TVEzdDRIAR5ghc9X5pU1eFr88RKYA3HvwU8VafNsOxSNhDGn4BRYCFRzxaH7keWdzl9cag_aem_p-ldYqqb1yDdaf5Zfv5Yvg

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/belmontcraginunited?fbclid=IwY2xjawNbq9JleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF1NmxZSEV0OGJtdnhCY0F6AR7y_jEhp11hZft_CcpR3kFKYbcGM9BxXrmLP76JWko0c08EVvddeqGrIX0UDw_aem_S3rkhgnJHM5nwej7PWSr4Q

•Chicago Liberation Center Community Center  based in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood of Little Village. The CLC hosts weekly organizing meetings to help attendees get plugged into the various tactics to fight back against ICE. Money goes towards printing materials, meals, and keeping the lights on in the space.

https://chicago-liberation-center.square.site/

• Chicago Street Vendor Relief Fund
Fund that pays street vendors lost wages so they don't have to risk being out while ICE terrorizes their neighborhoods.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/chicago-street-vendor-relief-fund-protecting-vendors-suppo

• llinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (ICIRR)
Statewide org that runs the Family Support Network. Money goes to printing and providing legal resources to people kidnapped by ICE
https://illinoiscoalitionforimmigrantandrefugeerights-bloom.kindful.com/?campaign=1242232
Podcast interview with Diego of ICIRR & Pilsen Rapid Response
https://chicago.citycast.fm/podcasts/how-to-spot-ice-in-chicago

•Latin Union of Chicago
Chicago org focusing protecting day laborers (think workers at Home Depot parking lots). Money goes to printing and legal workshops at their worker hall.
https://latinounion.nationbuilder.com/

•Pilsen PUÑO
Coalition of community orgs based in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen. Hosts ICE Watch trainings regularly at the Chicago Liberation Center. Money goes to printing materials and the ICE Bond Fund for people released from detainment.

https://pilsenunidos.org/#get-involved

      Belmont Cragin United hosted its first "Whistlemania" whistle packet-making event last night.

       
​       I especially loved the bottom line:

         "Luchadores" are Mexican wrestlers.

     
​        Claire and Miguel attended the Whistlemania event at their neighborhood location last night and today sent me this text:

         If you'd like to help, now you can, too.