More than 50 people, with signs saying, “Ice Out!” “We’re not radical” and “We just remember history,” were in attendance for the South Suburban chapter of Action for a Better Tomorrow President’s Day rally on Monday, Feb. 16.
The day’s slogan was “Democracy is Not for Sale.” The group gathered from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Homewood Veterans Memorial on Harwood Avenue.
Homewood resident and event organizer Greg Weiss said President’s Day is a national holiday celebrates the leaders who over the last 250 years brought the country to the world stage.
The United States is the leader of the free world, but it currently feels like the country’s going in the opposite direction, Weiss said.
Weiss saw the protest as a way “to use President’s Day to speak and show that we are against the regime that is in place right now,” referring to President Donald Trump and his administration. “It’s symbolically, and just spiritually, there’s no better day or time to do it.”
Administrator for ABT Annie Lawrence said they wanted to make a statement to say they’re not standing with the current president and how the holiday doesn’t feel like it can be celebrated properly during these times.
The founding fathers wanted the people of America to have freedom and the respect of the world that the country currently doesn’t have, Lawrence said.
She referenced a few of the ways the country’s instability is being shown here and on the global stage: United States’ current relationship with the National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the multiple convictions of President Trump, and the current information coming out about the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who was affiliated with Trump and many other wealthy and powerful people.
“Other countries are prosecuting their leaders, and there are consequences for their behavior,” Lawrence said. “Instead, we’re putting them on a pedestal. I mean, that’s crazy.”
She recognized the people in history who have protested similar things in the U.S., like the Civil Rights Movement or the Suffragette Movement, but it feels like the country is going backwards.
Weiss referenced the killings of the four students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, who were demonstrating their opposition to the Vietnam War, and how the current protests against the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) have already gone beyond that number.
“How many more people have to be sacrificed before we hit that maximum density that we just burst through, and what needs to be done is done?” Weiss said.
When it comes to the local politicians such as local village boards, Lawrence said they are woefully silent when it comes to current issues like ICE raids and events such as this one, but very aware that they are happening.
“When we go to the board meetings, they ignore us. I think they regularly ignore the people,” Lawrence said. “I think when we’re looking more towards our county, our state, our federal they’re more with us.”
She referred to Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill) and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller as those who stand with the people. She appreciated Miller speaking at the No Kings protest ABT hosted in October 2025.
Homewood Resident Julia Martin said she has been protesting President Trump and his administration since they have been in office and feels that the actions of the administration have been very intense just in the year they have been in power.
“I’m hard pressed to think of another time in history when an entire administration has been stripped of all of the people with integrity, intelligence, and it’s just become a grift of extortion and bribery,” Martin said.
The federal government is in the midst of a shutdown now as Democrats attempt to get ICE reforms approved.
“I’m glad (Democrats in Congress) are sticking strong on the ICE funding, although so much of that (money) is already in their hands that it’s difficult to turn the spigot off at this point,” Martin said.
ABT will be hosting a postcard writing event at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, at Beyond Borders Cafe in Flossmoor to send their message to representatives and various company CEOs who support ICE.
The next No Kings protest will be from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, at the Homewood Veterans Memorial from 1 to 3 p.m.
More information on the ABT South Suburban chapter’s event can be found at its Facebook group page.
