When Americans turn out Saturday to protest the actions of the Trump Administration during the nationwide Hands Off! event, Oak Park will be represented. Local critics of President Donald Trump and of his counterpart, Elon Musk, will gather at noon at Scoville Park, Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street.
Cynthia Breunlin, an Oak Park activist for a good long time, is more than ready to lead the protest but decided last week that she and other older activists in the village were not up for the trip to the Loop protest.
“Several of us who are older realized we could not get to the Federal Plaza,” said Breunlin, 77. So, spontaneously, she reached out to MoveOn.org, an organizer of the national event, sought its OK through its “Plan Your Event” feature and 24 hours later was recruiting a crowd. As of Monday morning, more than 250 people had registered to take part.
“We hope to fill the park,” said Breunlin. “And we might wind up marching to Harlem.”
Four years ago, Breunlin and others organized Congregations Networking for Social Justice. It is now about 100 members strong and represents lay members of faith organizations in Oak Park, Forest Park and River Forest. That group is the sponsor of Saturday’s Hands Off! protest.
“This is not along political lines,” said Breunlin. “But about our rights around our democracy, which are being taken away.” She offered a lengthy list of issues protesters want Trump and Musk to steer away from. “Our libraries, public lands, Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits, the Education Department and our public schools, our bodies, Social Security,” she said.
Also joining in support of Hands Off! is the non-partisan Oak Park-River Forest League of Women Voters. So while reminding members in its March newsletter that “the league is about positions, not politicians or political parties,” it asked its members not to wear “league paraphernalia” while protesting either in downtown Chicago or at Scoville Park.
Breunlin, who worked in housing programs for the village of Oak Park for 10 years, has been involved in fair housing issues across the metropolitan area for decades.
Asked why people who may feel overwhelmed by the news coming out of Washington should turn out on Saturday, Breunlin said, the protest “empowers people to have a voice. We don’t need to educate people about the issues, but we do need to respond with moral outrage. In these times we must take action.”
And, she made the point, “Retirees should not retire.”
