CHICAGO — Rachel Brown lives about a mile from Rahm Emanuel, but she's probably not welcome at the mayor's home.
"I could probably walk over to his house, but I think he might hate me," said Brown, an 18-year-old New York University freshman.
Brown, a Whitney Young graduate and Albany Park resident, is the teenager who created the Facebook post "CITYWIDE WALKOUT! rahm emanuel and anita alvarez's resignation party!" as a joke while in her NYU dorm room. It turned out to be no joking matter as the post got in the right protesters' hands — including musician David Beltran and activist Rousemary Vega — and it ended up drawing hundreds Downtown to demand Emanuel's and State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's resignations on Dec. 9.
Brown, who is back on holiday break from NYU, on Saturday created another Facebook post; this time it's called "if rahm doesn't resign by new year's, i'm canceling 2016."
"2016 is not going to happen if Rahm does not resign," Brown said, with a slight chuckle. "I'm canceling the whole year. I thought it would be funny to cancel an entire year if Rahm Emanuel does not resign."
The event was originally scheduled for 11:55 p.m. on Dec. 31 somewhere in Chicago. The time was changed to 12:30 p.m. Dec. 31 in front of City Hall. On Facebook late Sunday night, Brown said: "In the aftermath of yet another police shooting, this event may become a real physical thing because this needs to end."
Brown said early Monday morning the Thursday protest is now "definitely going to happen."
"I [will] definitely attend this one," Brown said. "I would have attended the last one, except I was very far away."
Brown, a film and television major, already has lengthy experience using her writing skills. She performs standup at open mic nights and has dreamt of working as a comedy sitcom writer since she was 12. While a student at Whitney Young, she created and was the head writer for "Hallways of Our Lives," a soap opera parody starring students that aired weekly.
Brown said she has no plans to stop making the joke Facebook posts, even though she said her parents are somewhat worried that their trash is going to stop getting picked up by the city.
"I enjoy doing it," she said. "I like doing it, and I guess I'll continue to do it."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
