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Politics
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 05:38 |
 By James Ginderske
Rogers Park activist group Northside POWER joined almost five thousand people last week in a well-organized demonstration that concluded three days of actions at the American Banking Association (ABA) convention in Chicago.
Northside P.O.W.E.R. (The acronym stands for “People Organized to Work, Educate and Restore”) is the community organizing arm of the Good News Community Kitchen (GNCK), a Rogers Park facility that feeds between 130 and 180 people each night of the year.
According to P.O.W.E.R. Organizer Cindy Bush: “Northside P.O.W.E.R. was founded about 5 years ago because the GNCK board, patrons and partners decided to become an anti-hunger organization that not only feeds people, but also, through advocacy and community organizing, addresses the causes of poverty and hunger.”
P.O.W.E.R.’s chartered bus to the event held 29 people, and was joined by others from as far away as Michigan and Iowa.
The group on the The P.O.W.E.R. bus was excited as they headed down Lake Shore Drive into the Loop and donned black “Northside P.O.W.E.R.” T-shirts while working out the details of their role in the demonstration.
Bush prepared the group by leading a discussion of the issues involved, making sure that participants understood the impact of the banking crisis on neighborhoods and the nation.
In response to one comment, Bush said “Because of the bank bubble, we’ve lost affordable rental in Rogers Park. Because of the bank bust, we now have record foreclosures here.”
Bush also noted: “This is a peaceful march. We don’t believe in violence getting us anything.”
Once downtown, the marchers passed over the Michigan Avenue Bridge up a closed-off route that passed along the northbound side of Michigan Avenue, and ended up at a rally in front of the Sheraton Hotel, where the ABA was meeting.
Balanced on the curbs of the bridge, a dozen ministers of various denominations showered blessings and encouragement on the vast sea of signs and effigies with statements like “God Bless you and keep you in your mission today!” It was for many a poignant reminder of the risk that protesting en masse in Chicago often holds.
Office workers along the route stared from windows, and numerous passersby nodded their heads and made quiet comments to each other about the action, appearing in several cases as though something about the marcher’s message appealed to them.
Participants walked alongside Chicago Police officers, who were present as security. One man told a group of several officers, “You all should be walking with us ... maybe you’ll finally get a contract out of the City!” The officers, laughing, responded “You’re probably right about that ... that might be what it takes.”
The police presence was limited to officers in standard uniform, with the exception of one mounted unit at a turn on Michigan Avenue, and a surveillance van at the rally itself. Absent were the large, intimidating contingents of officers in riot gear and caged sheriff’s buses that have been a fixture at past demonstrations, indicating that police were confident the event would remain peaceful.
Police estimated the crowd at about 2000, but at least twice that many were present. One possible source of the discrepancy may have come from a count of the sixty-nine buses, each holding an average of 30 people, that drove to the event. That figure would amount to 2070 people, and the Department may have based their number solely on that source.
 The theme of the march was accountability for banks to communities, and to lobby for government policies that support consumers, including the recently proposed Consumer Protection Agency. Calls were made repeatedly for intervention in the more than 5 million foreclosures that continue to burden American families and their communities.
The Bankers Association, in a statement said: “The men and women attending this meeting are traditional bankers dedicated to serving the needs of their communities. ... They are here to learn new ways to serve their customers and continue to rebuild the weakened economy. These are not the people at whom the protesters’ anger should be directed.”
However, research into the ABA’s lobbying on Capitol Hill reveals precisely the agenda protesters said they were concerned about. The association is on record for opposing HR 627, which would enhance consumer credit card protections, and opposes allowing States Attorneys General to prosecute violations of the Truth in Lending Act.
The ABA is also especially virulent in their opposition to the so-called “cram down” amendment offered by Sen. Dick Durban to Senate Bill 896.
That amendment would allow Judges in bankruptcy cases, including medical bankruptcies, to adjust the terms of mortgages to allow people to remain in their homes. (Medical expenses are involved in at least half of all American bankruptcy filings.)
News coverage of the event mostly portrayed the protesters as people who were either out of work or in foreclosure, a characterization that didn’t seem based on any systematic factual analysis or survey of the participants.
One daytime television report played up the possibility of violence during the march, and assured viewers, “They have dozens of police on standby ready to keep order here at the Sheraton hotel.” Those concerns, aired around the time of a prayer vigil that began the march, proved to be totally unfounded.
Several outlets repeated the ABA’s official statement that they were the targets of misplaced anger, without investigating and reporting that the claims made by the protesters were in fact accurate. The result, in several cases, was highly biased coverage that portrayed the protest as an angry mob simply ranting that they hadn’t gotten their share of the bailout.
The failure of many mainstream media outlets to adequately document the real nature of the protest deprived their consumers of accurate information upon which to determine the nature of the event.
Perhaps the most egregious example of biased coverage came from ABC News’ Ben Bradley. His description of the rally as “those who can’t keep up with their mortgage payments ... taking their anger out on bank executives” seemed to zero in on the plight of a few participants, while ignoring the larger issue.
Bradley also said, “Special interests including unions and elements of the activist group Acorn populated the protest.” He omitted the names of many other, less controversial groups who were also present and failed to note that the ABA, which does extensive lobbying, is itself a “special interest” group.
Mr. Bradley concluded his report with the statements: “Banking employs 2 million people across America so to vilify some. It’s a huge industry.”
He failed to note that the people singled out were limited to such individuals as Ken Lewis and Jamie Dimon, decision makers at large banking institutions that have received billions of dollars in bailout funds, even as slowed business lending and rising foreclosures rates continue to hobble the economy.
Bradley did manage to add that “banks (in general) ... are now fighting efforts to tighten regulation” and included brief interviews with protesters. But the overall tone of his report suggested to many that well-documented systemic failures within the financial industry are somehow not the responsibility of the financial institutions who profited most from the practices that led to the crisis.
Northside P.O.W.E.R. spoke out on new government regulations and foreclosures as well as to the evictions of renters that often accompanied local condo conversions. Their focus, as printed on their t shirts, remains on “A Place To Live.”
Like so many of the other grassroots groups present at the protest, Northside P.O.W.E.R says they will continue to struggle for that place against both the well-funded banking lobby and its enablers in the mainstream press.
Editor’s note: James Ginderske serves in a voluntary capacity on the Good News Community Kitchen’s Board. |
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