NATO show begins today with summit, protests
May 20, 2012 8:54AM
Grant Park early Sunday morning. | Al Podgorski~Sun-Times Photos
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Updated: May 20, 2012 9:20AM
As world leaders open talks on the future of Afghanistan, protesters began returning to Grant Park to post banners and signs Sunday morning before the Chicago NATO Summit opens at noon at McCormick Place.
Iraq Veterans Against the War will launch “a day of protests” and then join musician activist Tom Morello at the Petrillo Band shell for a concert in Grant Park, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The concert will be followed by a rally and march. Other protests are expected, and a worship service at Washington and Clark will “bless the protests.”
First Lady Michelle Obama will lead the spouses of NATO leaders on a tour of The Gary Comer Youth Center, which is home to everything from academic tutoring to a “Youth Urban Agriculture Program” to a recording studio, at 7200 S. Ingleside in the city’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, officials said.
Mrs. Obama and the rest of the group, along with kids involved in the Comer center and faculty there, will be treated to some local entertainment, including the South Shore Dance Drill Team, the Muntu Dance Theater which features African and African-American dance and music as well as the Soul Children of Chicago, another musical group.
President Barack Obama and U.N. Secretary General opens the main event, the summit, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will huddle on the sidelines of the summit for an hour-long meeting. Their talks are expected to focus on planning for Afghanistan’s 2014 elections, as well as the prospect of a political settlement with the Taliban, a senior Obama administration official said.
NATO show begins today with summit, protests – Chicago Sun-Times.
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