Walking the Walk—A New Action Calendar for Activists and Resisters Around McHenry County

 

                                Anti-ICE marches like this one on Labor Day have become daily events in Chicago and other threatened communities. 

I was asked to develop a new weekly preview of upcoming opportunities to take action in and around McHenry County for the Tree of Life UU Congregation newsletter The Happenings.  It occurred to me it could also be useful to a wider community of activists and resisters.  For the duration of the current multiple crisis or the Old Man’s respiration which ever comes first, look for this as a regular feature and service of this blog.

Walking the Walk September 12 2025

Anti-ICE and Military Occupation Protests are occurring daily in Chicago, around the Great Lakes Naval Station from which ICE is deploying, and in suburban and collar county communities with high Latinx population sponsored by various organizations and coalitions.  ICE enforcement activity is already under way and is expected to be massively deployed this week.  Trains of armored vehicles and heavy equipment have been spotted heading for Chicago just “in case” they are need in event of “resistance and assault” of agents.  If you want to be on the front lines, consult reliable new sites daily.  

 

The 9th Annual Mexican Independence Day Celebration on Woodstock Square on Sunday September 14 from 11 am to 7 pm.  This community-wide festival celebrates the rich heritage, traditions, and contributions of Mexican culture. Enjoy a full day of live music, traditional dance, authentic food, family activities, local vendors.  Free open to the public.  Sponsored by the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce presented in collaboration with Hispanic Connections.  Militarized ICE enforcement will likely snatch victims going to or around celebrations in Chicago and Northern Illinois.  Show solidarity not only with the Mexican and Chicano communities, but all Latinx, and imperiled immigrant/refugees.  And be aware of McHenry County Rapid Response team alerts to local ICE activity.  Be prepared to witness, take pictures, and interfere.  https://www.woodstockilchamber.com/mexican-independence-day-celebration/  

 

The Mexican Cultural Committee of Chicago, religious leaders, and community members announced the relocation of the El Grito observance to St. Paul Catholic Church in Pilsen in front of the church. 

The El Grito Festival original scheduled  for this Saturday, September 13 was postponed out of concern for the safety of participants then was quickly rescheduled to Monday, September 15 at 2127 W 22nd Place in Pilsen.  Longtime Pilsen neighbors and members of the Mexican Cultural Committee of Chicago will host a reenactment of El Grito de Independencia.  They invited everyone to show solidarity and bear witness.  El Grito Pilsen kicks off at 5 pm on Monday and the ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m.

 

Creation Care, a Conservation Celebration is Sunday, September 21, from 1:00  to 4:00 pm at the Pleasant Valley Conservation Area, 13115 Pleasant Valley Road, Woodstock. This event is open to all and is a great way to have a lasting impact on our community and its ecosystem. Ready to collaborate, plant a tree, and have fun?  Organized by our friends at FaithBridge which “encourages interfaith communication, understanding, cooperation, spiritual practice and action. Through a variety of programs, gatherings, and educational opportunities, we bring people of differing traditions together to learn about each other’s faiths, find common ground, and create something beautiful and unique that ties us all together as believing human beings.”  https://faithbridgeinterfaith.org/event/creation-care-2025/#rsvp-now  

 

No Kings Day the highly successful nation-wide protests are back on Saturday, October 18.  Massive marches are expected in Chicago and most major cities and state capitals.  In McHenry County  IndivisibleNWIL has already scheduled a roadside rally/vigil for Crystal Lake along Rt. 14 centered on 5650 Northwest Highway from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.  Indivisible McHenry County will soon announce their plans.

Those Damn Women Are Marching Again for Reproductive Justice…And Murfin Verse

They're back and they are pissed off.  Who?  The women by the millions who launched the resistance the day after pitiful inauguration of the former Resident of the White House and his minions in Congress, state capitols, and local government in January 2017.  That led directly to women seeking election at every level, the Blue Wave election of 2020 that re-took the House of Representatives and launched the powerful new voice of the Squad, and in no small measure mobilized the voters who ousted the scum-bag-in-chief.  They also amplified the Me Too movement and inspired other resistance movements to take to the streets in unprecedented numbers.

The day after the Cheeto's inauguration in 2017 the first Women's March jump started the Resistance that ultimately ousted the corrupt traitor from office.

Despite these successes, Federal courts were stacked against them and the Supreme Court now has a majority hostile to women, their bodily autonomy, and rights.  Enabled by gerrymandering, voter suppression schemes, deep pockets funding Astro turf organizations and candidates, and MAGA delusional madness, Red State governors and legislatures have launched relentless attacks on abortion rights and women’s rights to control their own bodies and lives.  The recent Texas law which the Supremes allowed to go into effect circumvented the established right to abortions under the Roe v Wade decision by placing a civil bounty of $1000 on anyone who aids an abortion in any way to be paid by the state for each successful civil suit brought against them.  More than a dozen states are ginning up copycat laws.

Since this graphic was created the number signed up for marches today has swelled to well over a million.

So this fall’s iteration of the Women’s March which will be held today in Washington, D.C. with more than 650 sister marches around the county will Rally for Abortion Justice.  It should be the largest single-day mobilization dedicated to abortion justice and reproductive freedom in history.

A call to march posted by one of the March’s chief sponsoring organizations Planned Parenthood stated:

On October 2, we’re marching in every single state ahead of the Supreme Court reconvening on October 4. Women’s March and more than 90 other organizations, including National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Planned Parenthood, SHERO Mississippi, Mississippi in Action, Access Reproductive Care-Southeast, The Frontline, Working Families Party, SisterSong, [and the Unitarian Universalist Association]  are organizing a national call to mobilize and defend our reproductive rights.

Abortion has never been fully accessible, but we are at the risk of losing our reproductive freedom completely. The call to action is clear, and urgent. The relentless attacks from Texas to Mississippi are ramping up quickly. Anti-choice extremists have a deep desire to return to a time when there was more clear and effective domination and control over queer and trans folks, women, and people of color; they want to revive those old values and societal norms to the point of re-acceptance. The authoritarian agenda of reproductive control is fueled by misogyny and racism - and we must challenge it, together.

On October 2, we’re going to send the Supreme Court and lawmakers across the country a clear, unified message. The attack on our reproductive rights will not be tolerated.

We have this opportunity to invite all the people that know us and love us into this important movement and work united as we build something better for our families and communities. As a small powerful group tries to come for our human rights over and over again, we’ll never let go of our vision of reproductive justice; for unfettered abortion access and everything we need to support and grow our families to thrive and live healthy lives.

The Washington March will begin at noon at Freedom Plaza, 1455 Pennsylvania Ave NW and march to the steps of the United States Supreme Court.  In Chicago the March to Defend Abortion Access will begin at 11:30 at the Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street.

Closer to home for those of us in McHenry County the Rally for Rights will be held on Woodstock Square at 2:30 pm, rain or shine.  Participants are asked to mask up and come with suitable rain gear.  Members and friend of the Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation in McHenry will be there.  Look for the TOL banner if you want to march with us.  The local March is organized by the Women’s March Woodstock,  McHenry County NOW, Democratic Women and other progressive organizations.

Don’t be surprised if today’s uprising is as effective at the first one, pink pussy hats or no.

Part of the Tree of Life UU contingent at the Chicago Women’s March in 2018, Carol Alfus (back to camera), Terry Kappel, Karen Dees Meyer, Marcia Johnson, Laura Zalnis, Judy Stettner, the Old Man,and  Katie Mikkelson. Photo by Linda Di.

It has been one of the honors of my life to be able to attend and support in Chicago and Woodstock as a male ally since the beginning.  After the second Women’s March in Chicago in January 2018 I dared write:

Today, I Am a Woman

After the Chicago Women’s March

January 20, 2018

 

Today, I am a woman—

            a put-a-bag-on-her-head-woman,

            a never hit on by Cosby, Weinstein, or Trump woman,

            a lumbering lummox of a lady,

            a barren womb non-breeder,

            a hairy-legged horror,

            a gawky, graceless girl,

            a disappointment all around.

 

But Sisters, today, I am a woman—

            if you will have me.

 

Tomorrow I will be just another prick.

 

—Patrick Murfin