Yesterday marked the kick-off of the Showdown in Chicago, three days of actions countering the American Bankers Association's annual conference here in the Windy City. Nearly a thousand activists and mobilized taxpayers from across the state and country arrived in buses and streamed into the downtown Hyatt where a string of speakers fired up the crowd. One of them was Larry Ginter of the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, who asked the crowd to show how they've been affected by the banking industry's destructive policies. Watch it:
Following Ginter was Tom Balanoff, president of the SEIU Illinois State Council (which sponsors this website):
Later, Sen. Dick Durbin took the podium, where he told the story of Chicagoan Nettie McGee:
Durbin went on to tell the crowd, "It's time for the showdown":
Later in the evening, the protesters headed out of the hotel and across the river to crash the ABA members' "Roaring Twenties"-themed cocktail party. Here's some footage captured by National People's Action:
Fox Chicago also had a great report on the event, highlighting the experience of Chicagoan Bonita Williamson:
Today will feature several more actions aimed at the ABA conference-goers, leading up to the big march and rally starting at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. We'll have more updates later in the day.
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