The Paw Print

By Saron Alem

Walter Payton students walk to City Hall carrying a “Palestine will be free” flag. Both flags and signs were used during the walk-out to emphasize its goal of a ceasefire resolution.

On Tuesday, Jan. 30, a walk-out was organized across all Chicago Public Schools concerning the current Palestine and Israel conflict. Its mission was to pressure Chicago’s local aldermen to vote in favor of passing a ceasefire resolution, which was to be held the following day.

The resolution was regarding the outbreak of fighting that occurred primarily in the Gaza Strip. It is one iteration of a decades-long conflict, which started as and continues to be a fight most simply over territory. Students gathered to push for a Chicago vote to pass the resolution calling for an end to the fight.

The morning of the walk-out, CPS sent out an email to families stating they were aware of the situation, emphasizing that students would be free to express their First Amendment rights safely, while also being clear that no harmful speech towards any group would be tolerated. 

The plan was outlined in various social media posts. At noon, students would walk out of school and protest outside for 30 minutes before walking to City Hall, protesting, and returning to the school. At Payton, the protest outside the school building was shorter and students quickly traveled towards the aldermen’s offices on the Chicago Transit Authority Red Line 

I discussed this with one of the leading figures of Walter Payton’s walk-out group, senior Nayeli Esparza, who said she realized after speaking with a teacher that “nobody was organizing it… and [she realized she] could do that.” Originally, her plan followed the established protest outside the school before heading to City Hall, but she believed “it wouldn’t have really done [much] if we stayed at the school… when I was planning it out… the original plan was to leave the school after 30 minutes… but I felt like we were wasting our energy there instead of using our full energy at City Hall…” As a result, Payton students were at City Hall much earlier than other CPS schools.

The students walked to City Hall holding paper signs. Upon arrival, they continued chanting as police converged as chaperones. Payton students walked around the building, gaining honks of approval from nearby cars as well as scorn from disagreeing civilians. The chants included “Free free Palestine” and  “Gaza, Gaza, don’t you cry, we will never let you die!” and “Ceasefire now!”

After a while, other CPS schools arrived, such as Lane Tech, Jones College Prep, and Kenwood Academy, and joined in on the protesting at City Hall. 

Overall, Esparza said she feels “really good” about the walk-out and how it went. She received both “positive and negative comments” and they’ve “balanced each other out.”  She emphasized that getting the ceasefire passed “wasn’t really the entire goal; the goal was [for] people and [other] cities… to take notice that a big city was calling for a ceasefire and try to follow…”

The walk-out ended in success. All students were safe, and the ceasefire resolution was passed with a tie-breaking vote from Mayor Brandon Johnson. CPS students were able to safely express their rights through the help of administrators, and the goal of the walk-out was accomplished.