Big-ass immigrant rights rally in Chicago yesterday and I feel a renewed sense of pride about being an American and being in Chicago. The conservative estimate is 400,000 marchers while organizers claim 700,000 but no matter...it was a lot of people with no arrests and no stress. When I was downtown I saw everyone literally draped in flags, little kids eating ice cream.

Chicago is not at all touchy-feely when it comes to matters multi-cultural. In the summer there are parades and festivals by every group and these prompt much eye rolling by non-members. "There go the fucking Puerto Ricans/Polacks/Fags/etc. etc." The deal seems to be You get your parade, I get to sneer at it and you.

You'll never be able to make a heartwarming tv ad out of that but, all things considered, it's not a terrible way to be. What I take away from this is that residents aren't going to feign good will so if there IS good will, you can feel confident that it is sincere.

Which is why I found this passage from the Trib so moving:

On the way to Grant Park, the dominant chant was "si se puede" (yes, it can be done). No matter their apparent background, participants raised the Spanish chant to support their Latino comrades.

Serigne Diop, 40, led a group of Mexicans in the chant. "I studied Spanish in college," the Senegalese immigrant said with a smile.

Brian Smith and Zack Wicks, both 15-year-old students from Francis Parker School, turned "si se puede" into a modified rap.

A busload of Koreans and Filipinos riding to the march broke into the chant, banging a traditional Korean cymbal-like instrument for punctuation. And Roger Brewin, a British immigrant, joined in the chant as he marched through the Loop. "I am an immigrant. These are my people," he explained.