On my bad days, I like to remember that we have a generation of young people who are as committed to social justice as any who have come before. In Chicago, young people are mobilizing against Rahm Emanuel’s announced school closures; the largest in this nation’s history.

Sara Johnson, a senior at Roosevelt High School and a student leader with Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, explained the coalition’s demands:

As usual, my friend, the intrepid & gifted Sarah Jane Rhee was on the scene of the student protest documenting the action. We, in Chicago, are blessed that Sarah lives here and that she is so generous with her photography skills. You can see all of Sarah’s photographs from yesterday’s student protest here. Her caption for the photos reads:

“On Monday, March 25, 2013, the first day of spring break for many CPS schools, Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools held a press conference at CPS Headquarters calling on the mayor and CPS to abandon its plan to shutter 50+ schools. They made three specific demands, which were detailed in an oversized letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel: 1) an immediate moratorium on ALL school closings; 2) TIF funding to be reformed and the funds to be used for CPS schools; and 3) an elected school board. From the press conference, the students and allies marched two blocks north to City Hall and crowded into the mayor’s 5th floor office, where they demanded to meet with Rahm. The mayor’s office sent out a representative who received the oversized letter with demands to take to the mayor. The students employed the people’s mic (i.e. “mic check!”) to relay their message to the press that was present and chanted “We’ll be back!” as an indication that this, their first action, would not be their last.”

Below are a few wonderful photographs documenting yesterday’s student protest:

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/25/13)

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/25/13)

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/25/13)

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/25/13)

by Sarah Jane Rhee (3/25/13)

The Chicago Sun Times covered the student protest here.