Jack Rakove

In other news . . .

I am sure many of you have been following events in Evanston, which has been in turnoil over ICE raids. The most recent took place on Friday, on Asbury just north of Oakton, which is a block from my sister's home and right near Bob Hamrin's old house (hiow they squeezed four big Scandinavians into that place remains something of a mystery. A couple driving a red car were tailing an ICE van, honking its horn or whatever to alert people to its presence. At one point, I think just by the park that straddles Asbury, the driver of the van slammed on his brakes and the car rear-ended his van, crushing its front end. Neighbors (incuding my sister) turned out, started heckklling the ICE agents, one of whom piulled his pistol and pointed it directly at the crowd, which would defy any use of weaponry by properly trained peace officers (which ICE obviously are not). It's easy to find news videos of this on the web, so I won't post any links. And I know all of you who are still living in Chicagoland have seen countless stories on related incidents.

So here's our hometown, a hotbed of lawless resistance, no doubt inspired by Antifa and funded by George Soros . . .

Louise Dietrich (Robb)

Also in northwest Evanston at Bennet and Colfax just 3 blocks from my sister.  Very scary!

Judith Sheahan (Lindgren)

Now living in Seattle, I have been following the events in Evanston IL as well as the rest of the country and like many classmates, I am heartsick by what is happening. When people mention that we are "on the road to autocracy" they fail to realize we have arrived--step by step over the past years. What is most troubling to me, far more than the current administration and the current Republicans in Congress, are our fellow citizens--those who seem to approve and find rationale to support what is going on, which is a deliberate attempt to incite violence so that these ICE agents can brutally suppress protests and speech, creating fear and intimidation by using physical violence just like the brown shirts of the 1930s. The network news media are not covering these stories with the attention that each event deserves--apparently afraid of retaliation. So, how do we convince the third of our citizens who did not vote in 2024? How do we convince people to pay attention? How do we convince those in our families who hang on to the labels of being a Republican or being a conservative that the meanings of those labels have changed drastically and are not shared by those swearing allegiance to Trump and his MAGA beliefs? How do we convince more universities and corporations to risk retaliation and stand up for what they know is right? How do we get those in opposition to the current administration, leaders with more power than most of us have to coalesce around a few who can articulate a cohesive message and begin building a winning campaign? What else can we be doing now? We've made our signs, marched in our communities, written letters to elected officials, attempted civil conversations with those with whom we disagree, sent postcards to other states, contributed to political campaigns, suffered through endless texts pleading for more money, written our missives to friends on social media, and some have even boycotted their favorite retailers if they perceive the owners are caving to some anti-woke agenda. What else can we do? These should not be rhetorical questions.

Jeanie (Jessica) Witkin (Zeller)

Thanks to everyone who has made me aware that  even Evanston is not immune to the atrocious current events starring ICE. And my  tiny town (20,000), Durango CO, has made the news with an ICE event last week!  Stay aware...

Thank you Judy for articulating this drastic situation so well.  I'm with you 100%.  And with Evanston's mayor who said to ICE:  "Get the Hell out of Evanston".  Proud of this mayor - and Illinois' governor.  I am part of a group that protests from 12-1 daily in Vermont.      Anne