This year’s Mexican Independence Day Parade in Little Village was more than a celebration — it was a declaration. A declaration of culture and spirit, of perseverance and persistence, of resistance and resilience. As thousands filled 26th Street, Chicago and Illinois bore witness to the unshakable pride and power of a community that has long carried the city forward.
Little Village is no stranger to adversity. In the shadow of threats from Washington, D.C., and with the looming presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, many communities might have retreated.
Instead, Little Village stood tall. Families, workers, youth and elders came together, waving flags and filling the streets with music, color and joy. They showed the world that our community is not defined by fear but by courage. We are not weakened by pressure but strengthened by persistence.
The parade was also a showcase of solidarity. Elected officials, local businesses, organized labor, nonprofits and allies from across Illinois joined in support — not as guests but as partners in a shared vision for the future. Together, they celebrated a Chicago community that continues to empower its people, advance wellness, foster resilience, defend human rights and build peace, block by block.
This is no small feat. Little Village, home to the second-largest tax base in the city of Chicago, is a cornerstone of our city’s economic vitality. Yet beyond economics, it is a cultural heartbeat that gives Chicago its vibrancy, flavor and character. When Little Village thrives, Chicago thrives.
The message from this year’s parade was clear: We are here. We belong. We contribute. And we will continue to resist injustice while celebrating life, heritage and community.
In a time when division is sown from the highest offices in the land, Little Village offered a vision of unity. In a time when communities are under siege, Little Village danced, marched and sang for freedom. In a time when fear is wielded as a weapon, Little Village reminded us that love, culture and perseverance are stronger.
The parade was not just a celebration of Mexican independence — it was a celebration of the spirit of Little Village and of all immigrant communities who refuse to be silenced. It was a reminder that resilience is beautiful, and resistance, when fueled by culture and community, is unstoppable.
Chicago and the nation should take note: Little Village is worth celebrating. Always.
Marcela Rodriguez, co-executive director, Enlace Chicago
ICE activity ‘un-American’
Thanks to the light skin that I inherited from my Irish American grandmother, no U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is going to stop me on the street and accuse me of being an undocumented immigrant.
Many Latinos in Chicago are American citizens. Why should they be subject to this kind of harassment?
This is wrong. This is un-American.
William Dodd Brown, Lincoln Square
Can ICE agents effectively communicate?
If U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are masked, can a person clearly hear what they are saying? Are the agents bilingual and speak the language of the person they detain?
Sheryl Campbell, Roseland
Heartwarming words of appreciation
Something happened while I was volunteering at the “Meeting of Styles” mural festival in South Chicago a few days ago, and it has just stuck with me.
Working for four hours, at 2 p.m., I realized I was famished and walked to the McDonald’s a half-block away.
As I approached the entrance, I saw an impossibly thin man standing at the exit of the drive-thru by the door. He was not unkempt or shabbily dressed. He had on clean faded jeans, a collared shirt, and his gray hair was pulled back tightly into a short ponytail. I was thinking maybe he was 80 years old and hoping for a handout.
I leaned toward him and asked if he wanted something to eat. He slowly turned and looked at me with a quiet, kind of astonished face. He said nothing.
“Would you like something to eat?” I asked again.
Then, he quietly responded: “A vanilla milkshake?”
I asked if he’d like anything else. Again, looking directly at me, no response. Our eyes never broke contact. I asked again, and he finally said, “a double hamburger?”
I then went inside the crowded McDonald’s to order. It was going to take awhile, so I stepped outside to let the man know and suggested he come in and eat inside.
He followed me in and sat down quietly in a booth. The order finally came, and I walked the tray to where the man was sitting, took my food and handed him his Double Quarter Pounder and milkshake. He thanked me softly. There was a quiet dignity about him.
I said, “You’re welcome” and left, not noticing that, as I exited, he had hopped up from the booth and came out after me.
“Thank you!” the man smiled. “Nothing like this ever happens to me! Nothing like this ever happens to me!”
As if an industrial vacuum pump turned on, the breath sucked from my lungs. I barely managed another “You’re welcome.”
The moment really touched me, and I thought I should share.
Dave Price, Edgewater
Forced organ transplants no joking matter
Can organ transplants make people live to 150? This sounds like a question for medical experts. Bizarrely, we heard an “answer” from a casual exchange between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping recently before China’s military parade.
When dictators joke about longevity and organ transplants, it’s not idle chatter. Those who’ve never lived under authoritarian rule cannot fathom the implication. But for survivors like me, it lands like a blunt truth: They are boasting about murder.
Besides military might, Putin and Xi sought to showcase another source of power: The ability to extend life by taking other people’s organs. Ordinary thieves know to hide heir crimes. But dictators brazenly show off what they’ve stolen — even human life.
For me, a Falun Gong practitioner who escaped China, the exchange hit differently. It was the raw chill of having survived what so many others did not. Practitioners inside China live under constant threat of becoming “donors” for the regime’s transplant industry.
Since the persecution began in 1999, the Communist Party’s slogan was clear: “Eliminate Falun Gong economically, physically and spiritually.” It meant we could be killed with no accountability.
When I peacefully appealed in Tiananmen Square in 2000, police beat me bloody and tortured me until I lost consciousness.
A year later, a surgeon casually described to me how organs were cut from death row prisoners. I didn’t realize that, for practicing Falun Gong, I could be next. By 2006, when reports emerged that Falun Gong practitioners were being killed for their organs, the world struggled to believe such evil was real.
In 2019, the China Tribunal concluded, “In the long-term practice in the PRC (People’s Republic of China) of forced organ harvesting it was indeed Falun Gong practitioners who were used as a source — probably the principal source — of organs for forced organ harvesting.”
Now, dictators have openly confirmed the very crimes so many tried to deny. With no moral baseline, they not only kill, they take organs from people of faith and call it power. This is the reality they revealed to the world before the military parade.
I ask U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to join me in saying “no” to dictators who treat human beings as spare parts by supporting a bill that will sanction perpetrators of China’s forced organ harvesting: the Falun Gong Protection Act — Senate Bill 817
Qishun Liu, Hindsale
Protect program that helps family business thrive
I am the proud vice president of Cable Communications Inc., a mother-daughter-run business that has called Chicago home for nearly 40 years. My mother founded it as a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, and we have worked hard to build a company that invests in our employees and our community.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program has been essential to our success. It is one of the few federal efforts designed to remedy both past and present discrimination in transportation contracting. By helping to level the playing field, the program aims to give qualified women and minority-owned businesses a fair chance to compete for federally funded projects.
For our company, participation in the program has meant being able to hire locally, expand our workforce and continue serving as an anchor in our neighborhood. Without this program, opportunities that sustain small businesses like ours would instead flow to large, out-of-state firms — taking jobs and dollars away from the communities that need them most.
Congress must act. Reauthorizing the program and keeping the requirements are critical to protecting fairness, strengthening local economies and ensuring the businesses rebuilding America’s infrastructure reflect the diversity and talent of our country.
I urge every member of Congress to stand with small businesses like ours and vote to protect the program.
Melissa Hurley, vice president, Cable Communications Inc., Englewood
Utility payers deserve better
The headlines are clear: We are experiencing an affordability crisis that demands bold and immediate action. While the federal government continues to prioritize the interests of wealthy donors, ordinary Americans struggle to meet basic expenses. One of the most painful aspects for people is the cost of their utilities.
According to a review of Illinois Commerce Commission data conducted by the Citizen Utility Board, ComEd and Ameren customers have lost more than $2 billion over the last decade as a result of deceptive practices and overcharges by alternative suppliers.
To make matters worse, rather than assisting Illinois consumers, some alternative suppliers are suing Attorney General Kwame Raoul as he and other Illinois leaders work to hold these bad actors accountable.
The attorney general has been steadfast and consistent in his fight against unfair practices. In one case, his office obtained a $3.5 million settlement from Palmco Power IL, also known as Indra Energy, after the latter misled customers into switching to more expensive electricity service. It pretended to be connected to ComEd and promised lower rates, but most customers ended up paying more. The company also engaged in “slamming,” which is when these companies sign people up without their knowledge. Senior citizens were specifically targeted, making these practices even more harmful.
Too many people in our communities are paying hundreds of dollars more per year in utility bills as a result of companies like Palmco and Indra. This is not acceptable, and that’s why I filed House Bill 1284. HB 1284 strengthens state law to prohibit deceptive sales tactics and aggressive solicitation from alternative utility suppliers, thereby protecting Illinois families from being taken advantage of.
HB 1284 also makes it illegal for alternative suppliers to raise a customer’s rate and automatically renew a customer’s contract once it expires, unless they adhere to strict guidelines and the customer signs off on the new price per kilowatt hour.
It is long past time to shield our most vulnerable neighbors from the greed and corruption of these corporations. That is why we must pass HB 1284 immediately. Illinois families deserve to be protected from price gouging and unfair utility costs.
State Rep. Kimberly Neely DuBuclet, D-Chicago
Remembering Redford
It seems like just yesterday when Robert Redford was starring in the 1973 film “The Way We Were” with Barbra Streisand. The hands of Father Time never stop and show no mercy. Let us remember Redford the way he was. Not only was he a great actor and director, he was beautiful inside and out. As always, time is such a thief.