The Birth of a New Revolution
As point man and chief organizer for the Chicago Tea Party, I must admit, I didn’t really know what to expect when I woke up this morning. I knew we had about 300 RSVPs on Facebook, but there really was no way to get an accurate reading of what to expect as far as turnout.
Today is a cold one here in Chicago. I think it was probably 15 degrees when I first arrived at Daley Plaza at 10:20 AM. It was starting to snow and the wind was picking up. When I arrived there was a group of people who had driven up to Chicago from Indianapolis who had a sign or two, but the scene was quiet and still.
About 5 minutes after I arrived, I was approached by Fox News Chicago and the TV crew set up to interview me about what was to come. I stated my clear frustration and outright anger over recent legislation that is shifting our country further down the road to Socialism, and made it clear that many Americans feel the same way.
A few minutes later Daley Plaza began to fill up. People were flooding in from all directions, and it quickly became clear that this wasn’t going to be a small gathering; Rather, this was going to be a large and passionate protest of out of control Government.
I made the rounds with the Chicago Police Department… greeting each of them and letting them know our plans. I spoke to the lieutenant who had been called in to put together a strategy for dealing with the crowd, and was told, much to my delight, that the Chicago Police Department would escort us as we marched through downtown Chicago to the Michigan Ave Bridge where the speeches were to take place.
By 10:50 there were easily more than 300 in the plaza, and by 11:10 I would dare say we were 400+ strong.
At 11:15 I informed the Police Officer assigned to take the lead with us that we were ready to march, and we began our journey through the loop towards the Michigan Ave bridge.
The walk was long and cold, but the energy was high and encouraging. The crowd chanted “No More Bailouts” as we crossed busy streets and intersections, and we were met with supportive honks at every turn.
When we reached the Michigan Ave Bridge, a tea bag was broken open and dumped into the river to signify the birth of a new American Revolution.
We then gathered in the plaza in front of the Tribune Tower, where Dan Proft and others made passionate arguments that were well received and rallied the crowd.
At the end, I was approached by hundreds of activists and every day citizens who literally BEGGED that we do more of this, and a lot more often. And not just rallies, but collaborative action needed to get government back under control.
It was made clear throughout the day that Americans believe, regardless of party, that our government is no longer representing the wishes of the taxpayers.
“Without representation, why is there taxation?” said a women who had NEVER been politically active before today. Her question was extremely valid and reflected the queries being presented by the rest of the protests being made.
The general sentiment of the crowd is that this is the beginning if a new revolution. A revolution that MUST lead to a new government, or at least, one that will again be “we the people”, not “we the government”.
With that said… the Chicago Tea Party was wildly successful and we here at the DontGo Movement are going to be hard at work making more of this possible.
A huge thank you is in order to Top Conservatives on Twitter, Smart Girl Politics, Michelle Malkin and the many other groups and individuals who helped make all of this possible.
And specifically, here in Chicago… many thanks are due to Julie Johnson of the DontGo Movement for her involvement in making sure this all went off smoothly.
Now let’s roll up our sleeves. We have a lot of work to do and we have to do it quickly.
It’s time…
-Eric Odom
