Men from St. Leonard’s Ministries and San Jose Obrero Mission interim shelters joined forces Sept. 4 to support Fight For 15. They were among 65 CCH leaders and staff who participated in the protest on the South Side.
Many of these leaders feel that low wages are a main barrier to getting out of homelessness, and they were glad to support the fast food workers’ cause.
Yaodi Hu currently lives at San Jose Obrero Mission. His poem is a reflection on yesterday’s Fight For 15 action.
– Rachel Ramirez, Re-Entry Organizer
We are Fighting for the Fifteen
By Yaodi Hu
It is a lovely breezy morning,
I have been anxiously waiting.
After a bowl of cereal with black coffee,
A long white van is approaching San Jose Obrero Mission!
A small gang of fifteen,
White, black, brown and yellow are all in the mixing.
Led by a Spanish Marshal with a small reddish bandage,
Are we going to be doing the disobedience Marching?
I always love to be singing.
But today we are going to sing with our feet and passion.
Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness,
We are going to fight for the minimum Fifteen.
Heading toward the 87th street and Express way,
We love to cross the McDonald and the Burger’s King.
Getting up and getting down, in the Chicago’s union town,
We all demand a livable wage of Fifteen.