ALL THE RAGE A.N.S.W.E.R.’s John Beacham (center) says antiwar protests draw the biggest numbers to his organization.

A.N.S.W.E.R.
(3334 W Lawrence Ave, suite 202, 773-463-0311; chicagoanswer.net)
Mission Act as an umbrella organization for many left-wing activist groups
Victories Co-organized the 2003 antiwar march that famously shut down Lake Shore Drive
Methods Rallies and marches

Right-wing commentator Laura Ingraham dismissed A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) as trying to “blame America for everything going badly in the world.” The group’s response was predictable: America is to blame for a lot of what’s going badly in the world.

“We [don’t] see foreign policy and domestic policy as separate issues,” says John Beacham, coordinator at A.N.S.W.E.R.’s Chicago outpost. “The struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia; the struggle for labor rights, immigrant rights—those things are all related not just to the war in Iraq, but to other wars the U.S. is conducting or supporting.” It’s A.N.S.W.E.R.’s opposition to the Iraq War that’s drawn the most support ; last March, 4,000 people all over the city protested the fifth anniversary of the war’s start (though a far cry from the estimated 10,000 antiwar protesters who clogged Lake Shore Drive in 2003). A.N.S.W.E.R. swells its ranks by including fellow lefties in its activities (i.e., Teamsters Local 743 and CODEPINK).

Despite the group’s peaceful mission, Beacham says the law isn’t usually on A.N.S.W.E.R.’s side. “The police have acted like armed thugs,” he says. “That’s also what happened at [the DNC] in 1968. They…discourage protests and intimidate people.”

For Beacham, conflict is worthwhile if it spreads the group’s idealistic platform. “What we need right now is a lot different from what we’re getting,” he says, “and the only way we’re going to get that is to build a mass movement. That’s what we have to rely on to make political change: our numbers…. [There’s no] reason to believe people can’t live in equality and peace.” A.N.S.W.E.R. will protest at the DNC in Denver (Aug 25–28) and the Republican National Convention in St. Paul (Sept 1–4).

—Joshua Klein

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