Protesters Plan To Shut Down Dan Ryan Over 4th Of July Weekend

CHICAGO, IL — For decades, Saint Sabina Catholic Church Pastor Father Michael Pfleger has led activists in the city on a number of issues affecting those who live in the neighborhoods on the South Side. He's been at the forefront of several protests, including some that have involved disrupting the flow of traffic.

But next weekend will be the first time the outspoken priest takes his message to a major Chicago expressway. A group led by him will partner with a youth group called "Chicago Strong" in a protest that's planned to block all northbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway on the morning of Saturday, July 7.

"Yes, this will be dangerous and there are always safety concerns," Pfleger told South Side Chicago Patch. "But there's also safety concerns for the young people in our neighborhood every time they go outside of their home."

Marchers plan to meet at the 79th Street Red Line Station before 10 a.m., when they will carry a banner across all northbound lanes of the highway from 79th Street to 68th Street. The banner will list the marchers' five demands: resources for communities, national common sense gun laws, jobs, excellent schools and economic development.

"We are in a horrific situation," said Pfleger, who on Tuesday pointed to violence totals from the day before that showed 24 people having been shot over a 14-hour period in Chicago. "It is absolutely crazy how this continues with no real response."

Pfleger, a social justice advocate who follows the agenda of his late friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., points to national examples of ways protests like this have been used to create change.

"The next step we have is demonstration," he said. "The Montgomery bus boycott was a demonstration and the Freedom Walk a demonstration."

He calls the planned July 7 protest a needed act of civil disobedience, similar to others he's been part of right here in Chicago.

"We've done three die-ins with our youth and had a huge march with Jennifer Hudson and Chance the Rapper," he said. "So now we have the idea of shutting down one of the main and busiest expressways in the city."

While the demands outlined by 'Chi Strong' include five different topics, violence in the city's neighborhoods on the south and west sides remains paramount.

"The weekend of June 15 was the deadliest weekend we've had since January 1st," Pfleger said. "The violence has almost become like the norm in Chicago. We forget that these are lives that are being taken."

Gun control has been at the forefront of Pfleger's agenda lately, pointing to his youth groups who have joined forces with the students at Parkland High School in Florida in recent weeks.

"We are trying to raise consciousness and continue the conversation that violence is plaguing our neighborhoods," he said.

So why not protest in the neighborhoods? Why prevent people who rely on the Dan Ryan from getting to work that morning? Those have been among the questions asked by critics since Pfleger made this planned protest known on social media earlier this week.

"We do protest in the neighborhoods," he responded. "Every Friday night."

"We are constantly out there walking in traffic, having die-ins in the neighborhoods. We've been doing this for years."

This time, by interfering with the flow of traffic on a major city thoroughfare, Pfleger is hoping public officials will start to notice.

"I get angry when I go downtown and see building going up and cranes everywhere, while here on the South Side it's nothing but boarded up buildings and vacant lots."

"That's unacceptable."

Watch here as Pfleger vows to go on with the march during one of his masses at St. Sabina.

Having the protest on the weekend following the Fourth of July is fitting, Pfleger says, as "we celebrate the freedom of our country."

"We have the freedom to march, and we are marching against violence. Any form of violence, whether it's police against youth or brother against brother in our neighborhood."

Top Photo by Tim Moran / Patch