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Protesters Block Traffic on Michigan Ave. Seeking Trauma Center at U. of C.

By Josh McGhee | March 5, 2015 6:43pm | Updated on March 6, 2015 7:37am
 Demonstrators protested outside a University of Chicago fundraiser Thursday night.
Protestors on Michigan Ave.
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STREETERVILLE — About 70 protesters shut down Michigan Avenue Thursday night in an effort to pressure the University of Chicago to open a trauma center.

Police arrested the protesters, who were demonstrating outside of a University of Chicago fundraiser at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Michigan and Pearson.

Protesters blocked Northbound traffic on Michigan Avenue at Pearson Street Thursday night. DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

Veronica Morris-Moore, a member of the Trauma Care Coalition that organized the demonstration, said protestors took to the streets in an effort to convince Sharon O'Keefe, the president of the University of Chicago Medical Center, to take bigger strides toward bringing a trauma center to Hyde Park.

 About 70 protesters shut down Michigan Avenue Thursday night in an effort to pressure the University of Chicago to open a trauma center.
About 70 protesters shut down Michigan Avenue Thursday night in an effort to pressure the University of Chicago to open a trauma center.
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DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

Morris-Moore, 22, of Woodlawn, said the protestors are asking officials "to tell us what's really going to happen, aside from a study, aside from some piece of paper or a promise meeting. We want real things to happen now."

"While the hospital is telling people that the trauma center may be a really huge undertaking that may shortcut a lot of their resources, they're next to us in the Ritz-Carlton raising $4.5 billion," Morris-Moore continued. "They're schmoozing with millionaires for money they're not going to put back into the community."

Veronica Morris-Moore, a member of the Trauma Care Coalition that organized the demonstration, was one of several protestors arrested Thursday night. DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

Northbound traffic on Michigan Avenue was shut down for about an hour before being restored around 7 p.m. Police appeared to arrest about eight people who had locked arms in the street, anchoring themselves to the traffic lights. Morris-Moore was one of those taken into custody.

Two men and seven women, ages ranging from 19 to 22 years old, were arrested and charged with obstruction of traffic, said Officer Janel Sedevic, a Chicago police spokeswoman.

The protesters carried signs in the street saying "Trauma Center Now" and "No trauma center, no library!” — a reference to the U. of C.'s proposal to open the Barack Obama Presidential Library on the South Side.

They chanted, "They say cutback, we say fight back!"

There is currently no adult trauma center on the South Side.

"I'm a black person who lives on the South Side, who has known racism and disenfranchisement her entire life," Morris-Moore said. "That's why this is important to me, because we understand it's not about the resources, because the University of Chicago has everything they need to build a trauma center."

"It's about the will to care about the people who are losing their lives, and it's [about] hundreds of young black people that are losing their lives."

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