May 30, 2020

Cries for justice don’t wait for a pandemic. Already reeling from the COVID-19 lockdown, Chicagoans bore witness to an explosion of anger, protest, and confrontation not seen since the 1960s, and in the city’s very heart. Suddenly the sorrow and righteous indignation that had been a fixture of life on the South and West Sides surged into parts of the city that had always been content to pay lip service to racial equality. The night of May 30, and the protests in the days that followed, made it clear that this was no longer an option.