The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) was the site last night, October 10, 2000, where Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader held an election rally, attracting over 9000 people. Green Party officials asked Maxwell Street Blues legends, Jimmie Lee Robinson (on a hunger strike over 45 days) and Frank 'Little Sonny' Scott Jr. to open the event. Accompanying the musicians was a large community banner with the message 'Save Maxwell Street', which was placed next to Ralph Nader's sign to the right of the stage.

Eric Hart, Associate Director of the UIC Pavilion, told local Green Party leader Dan Johnson that the Save Maxwell Street banner could not be on the walls of the UIC Pavilion because it was a statement against UIC. So, the banner was then removed. This occurred just before the doors opened at 6PM and Mr. Robinson and Mr. Scott were about to play.

Says Maxwell Street Coalition member and Roosevelt University Economics Professor Steve Balkin, "This is a violation of our First Amendment Rights of Freedom of Speech. Maxwell Street is a political issue and we were at a political event. The Green Party wanted us there and asked us to bring the banner as a political statement. They asked that it be next to Ralph Nader's sign. The Chicago Green Party was founded on Maxwell Street and the Green Party is concerned about issues of gentrification, community control, and minority problems. The musicians played on the stage for 10 minutes but the banner would have been there all night, seen by thousands, and possibly could have been on TV. That banner and its placement were important to us and would have given the Maxwell Street preservation cause greater visibility. UIC is afraid of that. On this same day, on Maxwell Street itself, UIC's Associate Vice Chancellor Mark Donavan had our Wall of Fame painted over. That Wall of Fame honored people such as Saul Alinsky, Benny Goodman, Ira Berkow, Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, and Muddy Waters. If we can find an attorney, we will sue."

Said 74 year old Frank 'Little Sonny' Scott Jr., "What is UIC afraid of? History? We just want to honor this great neighborhood. The Blues tradition on Maxwell Street has been happening a long time. They tore up my folk art Juketown Community Bandstand and threw my signs in a dumpster. My name was on that Wall of Fame they painted over. Jimmie Lee Robinson's name was on their too and the name of his grandmother, Little Mama Celia Jackson."

For more information visit these websites <http://www.openair.org/maxwell/preserve.html> and <http://www.maxwellstreet.org>.

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