Defender Reports IOC Listening to 2016 Protesters

Wendell Hutson writes in Wednesday’s Chicago Defender that the IOC Evaluation Commission has takens note of No Games’s objections to holding the 2016 Olympics in Chicago.

After meeting with protest groups while visiting Chicago last week, members of the International Olympic Committee’s Evaluation Commission said they are concerned about possible displacement should Chicago win the 2016 summer Games.

Several Chicago protest groups voiced their concerns about displacement during the IOC’s visit including No Games Chicago, which met with the evaluation group.

“We met for 15 minutes with the IOC and told them about the number of projects here that ran past deadline and its budget,” said Willie J.R. Fleming, a co-organizer for No Games Chicago. “Look at the redevelopment of public housing by the CHA and Millennium Park. No Games is not anti-Olympic, but we are for accountability.”

Gilbert Felli, an IOC member, said after meeting with No Games Chicago and Housing Bronzeville, another community organization that is concerned about displacement, it now plans to wait and see how Chicago 2016 will address displacement concerns.

“This organization (No Games Chicago) is very concerned about displacement from the Olympics, which is always a concern with residents,” said Felli. “It’s always difficult to build housing for the Olympics and not displace anyone, and they (Chicago 2016) need to address this issue.”

Thanks to J.R. and Bob Quellos, a No Games co-founder who also met with the IOC members, as well as all the No games members who worked on the rally, the action at the Fairmount and all the other outreach efforts. Our voice was heard. Despite the biggest PR blitz in memory from the 2016 Committee. we succeded in raising serious questions about the validity of the Olympic bid.