On Saturday, May 3, the streets of Chicago again filled with a colorful parade on the anniversary of the Constitution's 3 May. Among the invited guests were Karol Nawrocki, Senator Grzegorz Schetyna, MP Janusz Kowalski and Euro MP Adam Bielan. However, no of them gave a speech. What's the reason?
Parade without political speeches
The march way was led by the celebrated Columbus Drive avenue, moving along Lake Michigan. It was there, as all year, that the largest Polish parade in the planet was held – outside Poland. Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson recalled that the city is home to the largest Polish community of origin outside the country. He besides stressed the importance of Poles' contribution to building the cultural diversity of the United States.
The marshal of this year's parade was the well-known Polish activist Prof. Jim Mazurkiewicz, associated with Texas A&M University, whose name late appeared in the context of the nomination for the fresh US Ambassador to Poland. In his speech he stressed the request to cultivate the Polish tradition, observing: “Let us not forget our past, for it will happen again”.
Nawrocks, Schetina and others – present but without microphone
Despite the presence of many politicians from Poland, including the candidate for president Karol Nawrocki, no of them took the floor. The organizers made the decision to resign from the speeches in order to avoid politicising the event and transforming the vacation into a run rally.
According to RMF FM, politicians had previously attended a formal breakfast with parade organizers, but microphones in the grandstand remained unavailable to them. The organisers stressed that the feast of the Constitution 3 May is of a Community nature, not a political nature.
Elements of the run despite the ban
Although political speeches were officially abandoned, there were clear run accents among viewers. any participants brought banners with support for Karol Nawrocki, others expressed sympathy for the president of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski. There were besides flags associated with Donald Trump, which further illustrated the mixing of patriotism with politics.
Marta Almodovar, the organizer of the breakfast, concluded: “It was not a day for political agitation. It was loud, there was confusion – just trying to usage a charity event for run purposes."
Tradition Stronger Than Politics
Despite these incidents, the parade itself ran as planned. It was attended by 113 groups representing Polish schools, associations, companies and historical reconstructors. The Chicago 3-amay parade, held continuously since 1891, is considered the most crucial celebration of Polonia in the United States – competing with the fresh York Day parade organized in autumn.
