Dozens of community members gathered in front of the Homewood Veterans Memorial for the We Have a DREAM Rally on Jan. 19, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to protest the actions of the Trump administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The South Suburban branch of Action for a Better Tomorrow (ABT), helmed by Annie Lawrence, Jennifer Peterson and Greg Weiss, organized the demonstration with help from Amy Crump. Weiss coined the acronym Democracy Restored Every Action Matters for DREAM.

A crowd of about 40 people participated in the hour-long rally despite temperatures reaching as low as 4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Weather Underground. Cars drove by, honking in support of the demonstration.

Weiss described the event as “one hour of people feeling a little bit less alone” and “more together” with “more community.”

Lawrence concurred, adding that events like the We Have a DREAM Rally help keep community members feeling sane in these trying times.

ABT organized Homewood’s No Kings protest in October. The organization has distributed whistles in Chicago Heights for community members to use as a warning signal about the presence of ICE agents, a direct action tactic that’s also been employed recently by activists in Minneapolis.

Organizers said the We Have a DREAM Rally allowed community members who oppose the actions of the Trump administration to come together and celebrate a commitment to proper justice and dignity for everyone.

Peaceful gatherings such as the We Have a DREAM Rally echo the nonviolent resistance of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, Lawrence said.

“This is about civil rights,” Lawrence said. “This is about the rights of our immigrant brothers and sisters. This is about the rights of our neighbors, of not just non-citizens but citizens as well.”

Gage Batek, an 18-year-old Matteson resident, distributed information to other demonstrators with the names, phone numbers and social media accounts of every Illinois member of the House of Representatives.

Batek urged everyone to “call your representatives to tell them about ICE kidnapping their neighbors and abducting them off the streets.”

“Having a babbling idiot as our quote-unquote ‘leader,’ I feel we’re in a threatened position,” said Andrea Kissner, Batek’s mother, who also attended the rally. “Having him in authority as someone we’re supposed to look up to is beyond frightening to me.”

Katherine Herrman, a Chicago Heights resident, attended the event with her kids. They carried protest signs that said “Read Books, Ban Fascists” and “It’s okay to punch Nazis” and a sign with photos of Muppets and Sesame Street characters with the caption, “Defund Fascism.”

“I want my kids to know that we can speak up while we still have the chance,” Herrman said, adding that she’s angry about the Trump administration’s defunding of PBS and the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis.

“We don’t want them defunding things that are making our communities better and stronger. We want fascism defunded,” Herrman said.

Crump said more events need to be scheduled so residents can raise their voices and not feel isolated in the current political climate.

If a community member is interested in updates about ABT, they can email [email protected] or join the Facebook group, Action for a Better Tomorrow – South Suburbs.