Saturday, July 128th, 2007; Washington Square Park
Written by: Maren Robinson

Those rare times when I have unfettered access to cable television I like to find CSPAN2 and watch coverage of the British parliament. I enjoy the unveiled insults between MPs, and I delight especially in watching the Prime Minister respond to unscreened questions that range from sheep ranching, to nuclear power, to congested motorways. The Bughouse Square Debates, held Saturday at the Newberry Library, offered that same variety of subject matter and (relatively) good-natured heckling.

The event opened on the steps of the venerable Newberry, with music from the Black Bear Combo Marching Band (think New Orleans brass band meets Klezmer meets Tom Waits’ instrumentals). This was followed by an appropriately grand reading of Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric” by three area high school winners of the Poetry Foundation’s National Poetry Recitation Contest.

Jorge Múica, immigrant’s rights activist, and organizer of the 2006 and 2007 Chicago immigration rallies was awarded the John Peter Altgeld Award. The award is named for the Illinois governor who ruined his political career by pardoning men convicted of inciting the Haymarket Riot. Múica accepted the award in the name of those who don’t have a name because they lose their identity when they come to the United States.

The soapbox sessions began with different speakers at three separate locations speaking on matters as diverse as free public transportation, to the benefits of neighborhood sex shops, to food from farm to table and, fittingly, free speech. Attendees were free to wander between soapbox speeches and heckle at will. Indeed, some appeared to come just for the heckling. There was an awkward moment listening to surrealist Gale Ahrens discuss the a future society without bosses and alarm clocks that was interrupted by an equally loud debate by several homeless men who were quietly ejected from the park by police officers for testing the limits of their right to assembly and free speech.

What the soapbox speakers lacked in polish they made up for in sincerity, which is a refreshing change from the current model of political debates where all candidates wait for the ideal moment to drop a carefully preplanned sound bite. The winner of the Dil Pickle award for the soapbox debates, who, indeed, was presented three foot-long pickle effigy, was Edwin Yohnka who spoke on the importance of free speech and kept his cool when one heckler joined him on stage for some loud opposition accompanied by much gesticulation.

This year the usual Bughouse festivities were being filmed by a crew from the Discovery channel who was shooting a new series called “Wright Across America”, with Ian Wright, a Brit, former footballer, and former “Globe Trekker” correspondent. Wright took the soapbox himself and, with tongue firmly in cheek, remarked on loudness of Americans and suggested we could benefit from the British method of conflict resolution: silence, a stiff upper lip, hiding under a duvet, and drinking tea, ending with, “Thank you very much, now clear out.”

The day ended with a voter slam debate on immigration reform. Each speaker had ninety seconds to voice an opinion and move from the platform. The hosting ministrations of Second City members, who offered gentle mockery of each speaker, diffused any tension that might have developed between participants.

For a day of Chicago free speech I highly recommend first fortifying oneself with a breakfast of brie stuffed French toast and coffee at The Third Coast on the corner of Dearborn and Goethe. Now if I can get on my soapbox a minute about how Chicagoans pronounce that street name.…

Maren Robinson is a reader, writer, dramaturg, and avid bookshelf voyeur. You can check out the 1,176 books (entered to date) from her bookshelves at www.librarything.com/catalog/Marensr.