The organizers of “Black Friday” and “Black Christmas” are planning a “Black Wall Street” protest in the city’s financial district Friday.
DNAinfo covered the activists’ conference they held on Monday at the corner of 75th Street and Jeffrey Avenue, the same area 17-year-old Cedrick Chatman was shot and killed by Officer Kevin Fry in January 2013.
Protesters are scheduled to begin “crowding” the Chicago Board of Trade and other stock exchanges in an effort to block employees, especially floor traders, to gain access to these buildings.
According to DNAinfo, the fuel behind this protest is the activists’ demand for the release of the surveillance footage of the police shooting of Chatman, which is said to show the teen running away from the plain-clothed officer. They also called for elected officials and religious leaders to boycott Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s annual Interfaith Breakfast which is also planned to take place on Friday, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
Leaders, such as Coalition for a New Chicago President Rev. Gregory Livingston, believe the only way to truly get the mayor’s attention is to disrupt financial activities within the city.
“We want people to know that poor people across this city are in pain, so we look at this as a redistribution of that pain,” Livingston told DNAinfo. “Since the mayor has made it clear he only listens to the monied interests in this city, we’re going to take it straight to them.”
On Monday, youth activist Lamon Reccord posted this Facebook Event inviting others to join himself and other organizers as they protest outside of Emanuel’s home on Thursday afternoon.