KENWOOD — For three weeks, protesters in Chicago have called on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign in light of the Laquan McDonald police shooting video. Now, they're turning to President Barack Obama for help.
Ja'Mal Green remembers when Rahm Emanuel left the White House and came to Chicago to become mayor in 2011.
He was something of a white knight then, Green said, because he had the support and ear of Obama, a Kenwood resident who tapped Emanuel to be his first chief of staff.
"He came in like a hero, because it was like Obama sent him," Green said. "We wouldn't know of Rahm Emanuel if it wasn't for the President."
Green was just one of a number of voices who have called on Obama to intervene in Chicago as the city deals with the fallout of the Laquan McDonald case.
He and about a dozen other young South Siders associated with Black Lives Matters groups in Chicago stood at the end of Obama's block in Kenwood Thursday, asking Obama to be the voice of black kids that they say Emanuel refuses to be.
"You live right behind us," Dontell Williams said. "We represented for you. We need you to speak for us."
Ja'Mal Green (c.) stood outside President Barack Obama's home in Kenwood Thursday and asked for the president to push for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign. [DNAinfo/Joe Ward]
Anti-Emanuel protesters recently joined forces to form the Coalition for a New Chicago, a group headed by Rev. Gregory Livingston.
During a Wednesday news conference, Livingston recalled a recent visit Obama made to Chicago when the President said he was here to support "his boy" Rahm. Obama and Emanuel have been political allies for years, and while there have been rumors of friction between the two during Emanuel's days as White House Chief of Staff, Obama has described Emanuel as a "great friend."
"Mr. President," Livingston said Wednesday. "Please come and get your boy and take him back to DC. ... For the good of Chicago, he needs to go."
Livingston's group is also planning a Christmas Eve protest on the city's Magnificent Mile.
"The hope is going to be to raise awareness and shine a light on this corruption, so we can get [Emanuel] out," Livingston said of the protests. "The ultimate goal is to get [President] Barack [Obama] to come get his political son and bring him back to Washington, where he belongs."
Emanuel has apologized for the handling of the McDonald case, and has majorly shaken up the police department and the Independent Police Review Authority since video of the 17 year old being shot 16 times was made public. But he said he's never considered quitting.
"Sure, I made mistakes," he told Politico at an event earlier this month. "I'm a work in progress, like any other human being."
Antonio Dyson, of Gresham, said Emanuel's failure to support or represent the black community stretches back much further than the McDonald case. He said his support for the mayor beagn to waver when Emanuel pushed for the closing of 50 schools.
"Chicago youth is the future of this city," Dyson said outside of Obama's home. "Rahm Emanuel has closed our schools, taken our resources from us."
Obama has said he was "deeply disturbed" by the McDonald video, but thanked Chicagoans for "keeping protests peaceful."
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