Reflections from the Stop General Iron Hunger Strike
Yesenia Chavez, former Stop General Iron Hunger Striker shares powerful letter reflecting on the two-year anniversary of the hunger strike
Yesenia Chavez speaks at a press conference. Photo by Eduardo Cornejo
2 years ago today, I announced that I was joining the Chicago Hunger Strike. What I didn’t know at the time was how this decision would impact the trajectory of my life forever.
It’s extremely difficult to reflect on this time if I’m being honest. I couldn’t get through recording a video so I wrote this letter instead.
I lost 17 pounds over the course of 25 days. I went from weighing 134 pounds to 114 pounds. The last time I was that weight I was a Sophomore in high school, but the weight loss was minor compared to everything else. I was also still a full-time student in college working towards my Associate’s Degree, which I now have, and working full-time, on top of all the media requests we constantly got. To say this was an incredibly trying time would be an understatement.
As a full-time student during the hunger strike, I dedicated part of my time to doing research on the relationship between particulate matter air pollution and the link to health outcomes. I read about the increased risk of neurological, cardiovascular, and pulmonary diseases associated with high air pollution levels. More commonly I saw things like Diabetes, Asthma, Dementia, Congestive Heart Failure, and Cancer be associated as potential outcomes due to high pollution rates. As I sorted through the data, I understood that numbers will not tell you the full story. But the data changes when someone you love loses their life to one of those conditions and becomes one of those statistics. My grandfather was diagnosed with dementia in 2021 and my uncle passed away from a heart condition last October in 2022. I can’t help but think that maybe if they didn’t live in our neighborhood for so long maybe things would be different. That is s the part of the story the numbers leave out. The numbers will not give you an idea of the pain that comes in waves and sweeps you off your feet completely after such tragedies.
During my time as a hunger striker, I also saw how others worked diligently to care for our most vulnerable communities. The pandemic stripped families of not only their loved ones, but also their sense of security with food, housing, and finances. Witnessing Chicagoans organize towards combating these insecurities with food pantries, pop-up COVID-19 vaccination sites, mutual aid, and drafting legislation was inspiring. It was warm to see people care for one another, but it also shed light on the fact that Chicago politicians have severely failed these communities in more ways than one, especially the children and youth of our city.
To this day it still does not make sense to me that grown adults cannot set the value of money to the side for just a minute to look at current state of health for these communities and just do better. But then again, if you’re white and not from these communities, you simply wouldn’t get what it really takes to uplift and care for residents from these vulnerable neighborhoods. My entire life I have constantly seen the North Side constantly get developments and opportunities, meanwhile South and West Side communities continue to get subjected to flat-out garbage and be told to make it work. Enough is enough, and that is why as a coalition, we decided to do what was necessary to shed light one of those issues and let the City of Chicago know we were not playing around.
Today, General Iron is still trying to sue the City for denying the permit. This was expected, so no surprise there. As we mentioned previously as a coalition, all that talk about bringing jobs to the Southeast Side and being “for the people” was a façade to get their operations started again after being forced to move out of Lincoln Park. As a reminder, Southeast Siders began to organize against General Iron even before they moved in 2018. It’s now 2023 and we still await a final decision on whether or not this recorded polluter will be allowed to operate in a predominantly Black and Latine neighborhood after being kicked out of the predominantly white Lincoln Park.
Finally, during my time as a hunger striker I was constantly labeled brave, strong, a hero—or my favorite: “resilient”. But in reality I felt none of those things. My body ran on adrenaline and I compartmentalized what I could to get things done. I was defeated, anxious, frail, and overall exhausted from everything that was happening. I was at a point where death seemed more peaceful that what my reality actually was. Without the outpour of support we received from community members and allies, I do not think I would’ve been able to get through such a challenging time.
Above all, I’m grateful for pioneers in the 10th ward like Olga Bautista, Amalia Nieto-Gomez, Marcie Pedraza, Gina Ramirez, and Peggy Salazar for paving the way for women like me to have a voice on community matters in a society where Latinas are subject to hindrance residual of patriarchal practices, they changed the game. I’m grateful for my fellow United Neighbors of the 10th Ward members for unconditionally supporting and loving Breanna Bertacchi,, Audrey Harding, and myself during our time on the strike. I am grateful for educators like Lauren Bianchi, Chuck Stark, Ayesha Qazi-Lampert, Rachel Roti, Sophia Consonants, and Mr. Moore for not only supporting hunger strikers, but also being there for our students and community members. I am grateful for Carlos Enriquez and Ivan Moreno for every single ounce of energy poured into our stories being uplifted, and for managing our time so preciously in the midst of absolute chaos with media and interview requests. I am grateful for the organizations across Chicago who came together to support the cause and shared their wisdom with us. I am grateful for the research community in Chicago for sharing their data and not only helping me discover a new passion, but also showing me how to apply it towards supporting others. I am grateful for the media coverage but especially Chicago reporters for extending their outlets and raising our voices to be heard, especially Brett Chase who was there from the start. I am grateful for every single person who sent a message, text, chat, called, showed up to a rally, shared a post, liked a video, donated, and ultimately were up for the challenge of supporting our movement in hopes of a better tomorrow. But most importantly, I am grateful for 10th ward students, residents, and families who shared their stories, their heartaches, and ultimately believed in us enough to propel this movement forward leading to our victory. We could not have made it this far without every single one of you.
Thank you. You all changed my life forever.
Sincerely,
Yesenia M. Chavez
