You’ve just arrived in Chicago after a 12-hour bus ride from New York City. You’re here to protest the NATO summit, but you don’t know anyone in this town. You don’t know anything about this town, except that President Obama lives here and the cops beat up demonstrators like yourself back in 1968. You’re nervous. You’re scared. You need help.
The natives are offering help. On the day that busloads of protesters are arriving in town to reinforce its ranks, Occupy Chicago has released a “NATO/G8 Summits Guide,” with advice on things every leftists needs to know: how to protest, what to do if you get arrested, where to sleep, where to eat, and where to get a cheap bike. Here are some highlights.
WHAT TO DO IF THE COPS GET HEAVY WITH YOU: If you are contacted by the FBI or the Chicago police, please call the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago Hotline Immediately: NLG Emergency Hotline: 312-913-0039. Write this number on your leg and wrist before going to an action.
WHERE TO CRASH: Occupy Chicago's NATO Housing working group currently has spaces for small amounts of people close to the NATO date. These spaces include church spaces, apartments, and camping spaces. Occupy Chicago is also in the processing of finding more housing spaces. These spaces may include indoor ones and camping locations. We will be having a convergence space where travelers can come to during the NATO conferences to meet with working groups, visit an Occupy Chicago info table, and collaborate on plans and actions.
To find housing through Occupy Chicago fill out the Help out with Chicago form, on the front page of OccupyChi.org. This form will be reviewed by points of contact from the housing working group, who will connect you with available housing. You can also call or text (773) 536-9634, which will connect you to a POC from housing.
WHEELS: Chicago is generally a terrible, terrible place to drive in. This will be exacerbated during the NATO summits and the week prior. It is highly recommend to get around via public transit or bike. Unfortunately, Chicago is not the most bike friendly city either. There are not many bike trails and people are more aggressive towards bikers than in many other cities. Still, it is fairly easy to get around via bike, just be careful while on bicycle.
Two great bicycle resources are Working Bikes, which is located at 2434 South Western Avenue (very close to McCormick and Occupies Cermak location) and A Nearly New Shop, which is located on 3826 North Broadway Street Chicago, IL 60613.
WHERE TO SCROUNGE FOOD: The following are a few places where you can get healthy food:
Local
Food Not Bombs - Rogers Park, Sundays, 2pm, Under the Morse Red Line Stop
Food Not Bombs - Humboldt Park Saturdays, 3pm, California and North Avenue.
Seeds of Peace and Food Not Bombs will be serving lunch from May 14th through 18th at all major actions listed on Occupy Chicago's Ten Days of Actions. Food will also be served at the CANG8 summit. At The People's Summit, breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served on Saturday, breakfast and lunch on Sunday. At Occupy Chicago's convergence space breakfast or lunch will be served each day. All servings are free.
