Recovery from a recent surgery for colon cancer will not stop James Phipps, 75, from attending Saturday\u2019s No Kings demonstration in Chicago, Illinois. \u201cI have a burning desire to be a part of the protest.\u201d he said, \u201cbecause that\u2019s all I\u2019ve done all my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phipps, born in Marks, Mississippi, was involved<\/a> in the civil rights movement<\/a> in the 1960s from the age of 13, when he was part of racially integrating his local high school and organizing with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. At 15, he became involved in the Mississippi Freedom Labor Union (MFLU), which organized<\/a> sharecroppers for better wages.<\/p>\n At the time, the MFLU was organizing cotton pickers. \u201cThey were paid 30 cents an hour, working in the hot sun, 10 hours a day, which was $3, two and half cents per pound of cotton,\u201d said Phipps. \u201cIt broke their necks, backs, pelvis and knees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s no reason why you should \u2026 [take] people out of their home, and they\u2019ve been here for 20 or 30 yearsJames Phipps<\/p>\n \u201cThey had no medical care,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the key things in my mind right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Phipps, who now works in administrative support in Cook county, is a member of SEIU Local 73.<\/p>\n He was thankful he had health insurance to cover his recent cancer surgery. The federal government shutdown continues, after Democrats demanded that Republicans address recent Medicaid cuts under Donald Trump<\/a> and extend health insurance subsidies scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The expiration would set the stage for rapidly rising insurance premiums and risk driving an estimated 3.1 million Americans off health insurance.<\/p>\n James Phipps at Greenville air force base in Mississippi, in 1966 during a sit-in protest. Photograph: Courtesy of James Phipps<\/p>\n \u201cYou have greedy men thinking about one thing, and that\u2019s about enhancing their pocketbook, their financial wellbeing,\u201d said Phipps, who has also been alarmed by aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids<\/a> in Chicago. The Trump administration has defended the raids with false and misleading claims<\/a> about crime.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason why you should walk the streets, taking people out of their home, and they\u2019ve been here for 20 or 30 years,\u201d he said. \u201cI had Mexican neighbors live next door to me 41 years. They were some of my best friends in life. We coalesced with each other.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were social with neighbors, with each other, and we loved each other. When one saw somebody died or there was a problem, we were already there.\u201d<\/p>\n There are parallels, Phipps said, between how immigrants are being treated under Trump to the discriminatory laws he grew up under in Mississippi.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same struggle that Mexican Americans and people of color are going through, we went through that since 1619<\/a>, especially in the south when we had Jim Crow,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you dared do anything at that time to confront them about the way you were treated, you would end up being found in the river or lynched somewhere, so I identify with what is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We didn\u2019t want kings then, and we don\u2019t want kings now\u2019<\/p>\n Some of the largest labor unions in the US are involved<\/a> in organizing the No Kings protests, with more than 2,700 demonstrations planned across all 50 states, with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and American Federation of Teachers anchoring events.<\/p>\n The real threat to this country isn\u2019t peaceful protesters. It\u2019s politicians shutting down our government to protect billionairesJaime Contreras<\/p>\n \u201cUnions understand that a voice at work creates power for regular people at work. Unions understand that a voice in democracy creates power for regular folks, for working folks in a society,\u201d said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. \u201cThese are two of the main ways that regular folks have any power.<\/p>\n \u201cWe and labor understand that you need to have a voice to have freedom. Freedom does not come without a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n While prominent Republicans and Trump administration officials have claimed<\/a> the protests amount to \u201chate America\u201d rallies \u2013 in stark contrast to Trump\u2019s description of January 6 rioters as \u201cpatriots\u201d. The Republican congressman Tom Emmer went so far as to suggest that Democrats were bowing to the \u201cpro-terrorist wing of their party\u201d by standing by demands that Republicans address recent Medicaid cuts and extend health insurance subsidies.<\/p>\n