Chicagoans Rally in Support of Egyptian Uprising

By Prescott Carlson in News on Jan 30, 2011 5:00PM

Hundreds of Chicago protesters took to the streets on Saturday to rally in support of the tens of thousands of Egyptians in the midst of an uprising to overthrow the current Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the protesters took up almost the entire block at 500 N. Michigan Avenue (home of the local Consulate General of Egypt), waving signs and Egyptian flags and chanting slogans such as, "Brick by brick, wall by wall, we shall see Mubarak fall." The protest corresponded with similar protests in other cities such as New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

One protester, Al Arif, an engineer who immigrated from Egypt over 20 years ago, told the Trib that "Egyptians in the U.S. are hungry to give 'spiritual support' to protesters in their homeland." Arif added, "We fight corruption here. We need to help fight corruption in other places."