"Black & Brown Lives Matter, at home & abroad," was a message of an International Human Rights Day ( Dec. 10 ) protest that started at Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway, and ended near President Obama's Chicago home.
Emmett Farmerwhose son, Flint, was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer in 2011 while he was lying on his stomachwas among the featured speakers, as was Joyce Brown, mother of Charles Brown IV, a 20-year-old who was shot and killed by south suburban Harvey police on April 13. Other speakers included Toussaint Losier, organizer with the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign and activist for a South Side trauma center, and Frank Chapman, Field Organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression.
The United Nations General Assembly established International Human Rights Day in 1950.
In addition, the "Millions March Chicago"done in solidarity with a similar event in New York Citytook place Dec. 13, beginning at State Street and Jackson Boulevard in the Loop. It progressed to the Gold Coast.
Photos of the Dec. 10 event courtesy of Andy Thayer; images of the Dec. 13 march by Tim Carroll Photography