Chicago in May: My Hometown, Where Power Rests in People

Mike & Friends Blog

Donna Smith

Donna Smith, American SiCKO, is executive director of the Health Care for All Colorado Foundation

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May 4th, 2012 11:58 AM

Chicago in May: My Hometown, Where Power Rests in People

It’s so fitting that the nurses will march and rally in Chicago on May 18^th as they lead a global campaign for the Robin Hood Tax – a small tax on financial transactions like stocks, bonds, and all the speculative trading on Wall Street. Chicago is my hometown, and Chicago is a city that has always taken its power from the people who built it, love it, defend it in times of unrest or uncertainty, and sometimes even become the target of jokes offered by those not in the real “Loop.”

The Robin Hood Tax is all about fairness in taxing Wall Street transactions and protecting people like those fierce Chicagoans with hearts as big as Wrigley Field or Comiskey Park (sorry, I probably was supposed to call it U.S. Cellular Field, but I never learned better). And the nurses of National Nurses United will be making sure world leaders see and listen to everyone who comes to Chicago as part of the 85 local, regional, national and international groups supporting the tax.

Yeah, yeah, the NATO folks will be gathering there too later in the week, but most of us aren’t invited to that party.

So on May 18^th for the nurses’ march and rally, as an added bonus, Grammy Award-winning musician Tom Morello will perform on Daley Plaza around noon on Friday, May 18^th, as the march arrives from the downtown Chicago Sheraton.

The Robin Hood Tax is the right way to take in revenues with a small tax levied on the right people and transactions to support making sure the good people of Chicago and all over America and the globe have better, more secure lives with access to healthcare, quality public education, good jobs and secure retirements, a safe environment, and the food and housing needed.

If you want to learn more about the Robin Hood Tax and the NNU march and rally, watch this video for a great lesson and all the information you’ll need.

Friday, May 18^th. Chicago. Be there or you’ll wish you had been. Occupy is bringing people in on buses from some locations, so please be watching in your local areas for ways to make the trip.

Earlier in that week, you can also join some of your fellow Chicagoans and a few special visitors for their annual event known as “Single Payer Bowling.” Lots of great people who believe healthcare is a human right and a public good get together to have some fun and spread the word. That’s on Saturday, May 12, at Diversey Bowl. Watch this video for more information and to register.

I love Chicago. It’s my hometown. It’s where people matter more than anything else. Big city. Big hearts. Big ideas. Join us.