alma campos

Hundreds of Chicagoans Join Iran Protests in Solidarity

Protests in Iran and around the world were sparked after the death of Mahsa Amini, allegedly beaten to death by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly.

BY ALMA CAMPOS

On Saturday afternoon, nearly a thousand demonstrators marched down Michigan Avenue to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, a twenty-two-year-old IranianKurdish woman who, on September 16, was allegedly beaten to death by the morality police in Tehran, Iran for not wearing her hijab correctly. To show solidarity for Amini and the women in Iran, similar protests took place in over 150 cities across the world on Saturday. Iran itself is now in their third week of protests.

Despite internet restrictions in Iran following the protests, violent videos have made their way to Twitter, showing students and people beaten and shot with tasers by security forces. According to human rights groups, more than ninety people, including children, have been killed.

According to media reports, Amini was traveling with her family to Tehran when she was stopped by the regime’s morality police. The police alleged she was not wearing her hijab correctly but the regime denies she was beaten and claims she died from a heart attack. Women in Iran have been required to wear the hijab in public since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A United Nations (UN) expert said in a report to the Human Rights Council that women are mistreated and abused, pointing to domestic violence, marriages of girls aged between 10 and 14, and the existence of discriminatory laws that require women to seek a husband’s permission for travel or make decisions about her career. But today, Iranian women from all walks of life are removing their hijabs and burning them in cities like Tehran, Qom and other large Iranian cities, at a scale never seen before in the country. In Chicago, the desperation was felt on Saturday. Sahar, a demonstrator who recently came from Iran and didn’t want to provide her full name, said the anger has been building up for a while. Sahar explained that the protests have erupted in Iran for many other reasons too. She pointed to poverty, inefficient agriculture and economic sanctions as some of the main problems facing Iran today, and said people can get in trouble for speaking out against the government through music, social media, and at universities. “Everyone [at the protest] is angry because we had to leave our country because we needed freedom,” she said.

But this type of violence is not only present to Iran. Last year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled a $25 million plan to combat gender-based violence in Chicago and to address the increased rates of women experiencing domestic violence, particularly during the pandemic, as well as intimate partner violence, human trafficking and homicide. While advocates think the funds are crucial, they worry the plan isn’t specific enough and hope it helps find an end to the murders of Black women in Chicago.

And women from all over the world have been rising up against gender-based violence and discrimination, such as in Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. In Latin America and the Caribbean, at least one out of every three women has experienced physical and/or sexual abuse. And while twelve women lose their lives to these crimes every day, ninety-eight percent of these murders go unpunished.

Holding up a sign with the phrase, ‘Women Life Freedom,’ Sahar said, “It could be any of us.”

Organizers encourage those who want to support Iranian women to sign the petition End the bloodshed in Iran with Amnesty International. ¬

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PHOTO BY ALMA CAMPOS

Alma Campos is the Weekly’s Immigration editor.

The South Side Weekly is an independent non-profit newspaper by and for the South Side of Chicago. We provide high-quality, critical arts and public interest coverage, and equip and develop journalists, artists, photographers, and mediamakers of all backgrounds.

Volume 10, Issue 2

Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline Serrato

Managing Editor Adam Przybyl

Senior Editors Christopher Good Olivia Stovicek Sam Stecklow Martha Bayne

Arts Editor Isabel Nieves Education Editor Madeleine Parrish Housing Editor Malik Jackson

Community

Organizing Editor Chima Ikoro Immigration Editor Alma Campos

Contributing Editors Lucia Geng Matt Moore Francisco Ramírez Pinedo Jocelyn Vega Scott Pemberton

Staff Writers Kiran Misra Yiwen Lu

Director of Fact Checking: Sky Patterson Fact Checkers: Siri Chilukuri, Grace Del Vecchio, Lauren Doan, Savannah Hugueley, Kate Linderman, Zoe Pharo and Emily Soto

Visuals Editor Bridget Killian Deputy Visuals Editors Shane Tolentino Mell Montezuma

Staff Illustrators Mell Montezuma Shane Tolentino

Layout Editors Colleen Hogan Shane Tolentino Tony Zralka

Webmaster Pat Sier Managing Director Jason Schumer Director of Operations Brigid Maniates

The Weekly is produced by a mostly all-volunteer editorial staff and seeks contributions from across the city. We publish online weekly and in print every other Thursday.

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IN CHICAGO

There’s (Probably) Lead in Your Water

For years, we’ve known that Chicago’s lead water pipes are a looming public health disaster, but a Guardian investigation last month shows just how bad things are. Much of the city’s water is delivered via lead service lines, pipes that were made with lead a hundred years ago. Lead is a known neurotoxin that can create learning and behavioral difficulties in children and reproductive problems in adults. For decades, the City has placed the responsibility of replacing lead lines on property owners, but in 2020, Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled a plan for the City to replace the pipes over the course of the next few decades at an estimated cost of $8.5 billion. The plan called for replacing 400-800 pipes a year, yet as of last month, only 180 of the 400,000 lines have been replaced. The City has also offered free testing kits to anyone who requests one, allowing residents to measure the concentrations of lead in their tap water.

It’s the results of these tests, some 24,000 in total, that the Guardian investigated, and their story highlights the need for urgent action, especially in neighborhoods with marginalized populations where lead levels are higher. Concentrations of minerals like lead in water are measured in parts per billion (ppb), and there are different acceptable safety levels depending on who you ask. The Environmental Protection Agency sets the safe limit of lead in tap water at 15 ppb—anything above that is dangerous. By that measure, one in twenty, or about five percent of tests exceeded that threshold. But some experts think that limit is too generous—the Food and Drug Administration, for example, sets the limit at 5 ppb in bottled water. By that measure, one third of Chicago lead tests exceeded the limit. And the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends setting the limit at 1 ppb for children, because their developing brains are particularly susceptible to the toxic effects of lead exposure. By that measure, seventy-one percent of tests had dangerous levels of lead.

But like so many negative outcomes in Chicago, the high concentrations of lead are themselves concentrated in low-income neighborhoods with significant Black and Latinx populations. Four out of the ten zip codes with the highest concentration of lead levels above 15 ppb were on the South Side, and include areas in Bronzeville, East Side, and South Chicago, for example. And while the City has expanded the number of people eligible to get the lead lines on their property replaced for free, saving them up to $30,000, the paperwork and bureaucracy involved is complicated and frustrating, slowing down the process and turning some people away. The results speak for themselves: just 180 lines replaced over several years. Meanwhile, the Guardian compared the efforts of cities like Newark, New Jersey, where crews replaced pipes block by block “at no cost to the homeowner” and used innovative methods that cut down on the time required, allowing them to replace up to 120 lines a day.

Lightfoot has yet to address the investigation or the pressure it places on her administration for the lack of progress in replacing the water lines. In the meantime, residents interested to see the lead levels in their tap water can request a free kit at chicagowaterquality.org and use a water filter at home that removes lead, especially if there are children. ¬

IN THIS ISSUE

hundreds of chicagoans join iran protests in solidarity

22-year-old Mahsa Amini was allegedly beaten to death by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly. alma campos............................................2

meet the 10th ward candidate: óscar sánchez

The community organizer who stood up to General Iron wants to bring co-governance to the alderperson’s office. francisco ramírez pinedo.....................4

conozca al candidato del distrito 10: óscar sánchez

El organizador comunitario que se enfrentó al General Iron quiere llevar la cogobernanza a la oficina del distrito. francisco ramírez pinedo.....................6

meet the 10th ward candidate: ana guajardo

The longtime workers’ rights organizer on how she’ll bring clean air, infrastructure improvements, and more for her ward. alma campos............................................8

conozca a la candidata del distrito 10: ana guajardo

La organizadora proinmigrante habla de su experiencia comunitaria y sus metas por tener agua y aire limpios, además de mejoras en la infraestructura. alma campos..........................................10

natalie osborne paints portraits rooted in family

On falling in love with Chicago, painting Black women, and making time for art. dierdre robinson..................................13

returning citizens still face barriers despite protective policies

Policies that protect access to housing and employment not enforced consistently. kelli duncan............................................15

helen shiller on what it takes to win

The longtime Chicago organizer and former alderperson describes the approach she took in writing her memoir. bobby vanecko .......................................17

public meetings report

A recap of select open meetings at the local, county, and state level. documenters, jacqueline serrato, scott pemberton ..................................21

calendar

Bulletin and events. south side weekly staff......................22