Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

#BlackBrunchChi Protests Disrupt Lunch At Wicker, Lincoln Park Restaurants

By  Ed Komenda and Alisa Hauser | January 1, 2016 4:50pm | Updated on January 4, 2016 8:33am

 A group of protesters marched through Wicker Park during New Year's Day brunch on Friday.
#BlackBrunchChi Protest in Wicker Park
View Full Caption

WICKER PARK — Activists added a twist to protesting police violence Friday by streaming into North Side restaurants to disrupt lunch as part of an effort dubbed #BlackBrunchChi on Twitter.

Hoping to create more awareness about police brutality, protesters walked into the Summer House in Lincoln Park and Dove’s Luncheonette in Wicker Park, among other restaurants.

About 50 protesters marched down parts of Damen and Milwaukee Avenues in Wicker Park around noon to 2 p.m. Friday, chanting “I believe that we will win” and “F--- police.”

Shakespeare District police officers, whose squad cars were parked near the Milwaukee and Wolcott avenues intersection, watched the protesters march peacefully down the sidewalks and streets, at times bringing car traffic to a halt.

As a frustrated car driver tried to turn into the Walgreens parking lot near the mass of protesters, an officer told a protester to move to avoid getting struck: “Watch out! You’ll get hurt,” the officer said.

No arrests were made during the protest, according to Officer Janel Sedevic, a Chicago police spokeswoman on Saturday. Chicago Police said they were aware of the protests and monitoring the movement.

Standing outside of Kanela Brunch Club, 1408 N. Milwaukee Ave., an organizer said the #BlackBrunchChi march was organized by Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100, Assata’s Daughters and Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP). 

In a statement to DNAinfo Chicago, organizers said that they were bringing #BlackBrunchCHI to one of the busiest North Side dining districts, to “intervene on the celebration of consumerism, corrupt property/zoning displacement practices, and the retail and service industries’ routine collusion with police and state violence.”

The #BlackBrunchChi campaign has been around for about a year, an action created by the #LetUsBreathe Collective, a fundraising initiative formed to bring supplies to Ferguson protesters.

Search #BlackBrunchChi on Twitter and you’ll find numerous videos shot on the scene. Here’s a look at some of them via Storify:

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: