Community on Chicago’s south side fights parking meter expansion

For over a month, the Centro Communitario Juan Diego on Chicago’s south side has staged militant neighborhood actions and a 24-hour vigil to stop the installation of parking meters outside of their community center.

A 24-hour vigil outside Centro Communitario Juan Diego on Chicago’s south side has stopped the city from installing new parking meters along Commerical Avenue.

The community group has marched on the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce and Alderman John Pope’s office and home. They have withstood various attempts by the city and the chamber’s hired security goons to intimidate and silence them.

The vigil has received widespread support from the community and according to organizer Robert Garcia has provided “A sense that the people in our community, poor workers and immigrants, can act together and stand up to powerful business interests.”

Over 1,500 petitions have been collected to stop the installation of parking meters outside the center and along Commercial Avenue.

Free public street parking outside the center is very important. The Centro Communitario Juan Diego provides vital social services for the working-class neighborhood, which is made up of mostly Latinos, African Americans and immigrants. The center provides health care and literacy programs as well as distributing food and clothing.

The center also fights for tenants’ rights and against gentrification. The installation of the parking meters, at the request of the chamber of commerce, is part of a wider project by real estate investors and local politicians to take over and “develop” the larger lakefront area on the south side.

In the past couple of years, the campaign of attacks against the community has included fraudulent home inspections, numerous threats against anybody who stands up to the program of neighborhood cleansing and the organization of environmental and antiviolence groups that are playing an underhanded role by providing “progressive” cover for gentrification.

The chamber has pressured small businesses on the same street as the community center to oppose the movement to stop the meters and has printed slanders about the center in its newsletter. The chamber has spread outrageous lies in its publication, accusing the center of encouraging illegal acts, engaging in “illegal” protests and working for “outside” forces.

Alderman Pope arrogantly dismissed the center’s petitions, saying that many of the petitions looked like they were signed by children.

Workers from all communities in Chicago and beyond should join hands with the south side community and the Centro Communitario Juan Diego as they stand up and fight back against the city’s anti-worker parking meter expansion. To help stop the installation of meters oustide of Centro Communitario Juan Diego call Alderman Pope at 773-721-1999.