Friends, lovers, colleagues, and artists from all over the world, thank you for being here tonight. it is my great honor to be surrounded by all your energies and creativities. Chicago was one of the greatest cities on this planet. it was a city full of dreams, the opportunities to achieve them, and a great spirit of believing in them. it is a place where human kind merges wisdom and hard labour perfectly together to make true miracles.
150 years ago, people literally lifted the land 8 feet to make this bitter draining lake city a lovely home. it is neither the blessing of sir Moses, nor the great power of God, but the true uniting of people that made the impossible possible. it was people working together, architects, engineers, workers, artists, small business owners, politicians and citizens. the power of the togetherness is so strong that even the landscape could be reshaped. these people, they are the people who believe in dreams. a dream for better life. they are also the people of actions, the actions created by all races, all genders, all sexualities. Chicago has always been the front line of fighting for better lives. Abraham Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for the nation’s presidency, setting the stage for racial equality. Jane Addams created the Hull House here, in Chicago, where some of the first programs were developed to make models for the new field of social work. Chicago was also the leader in movement to improve public health. even the international labour day was named because here, in Chicago, after the Haymarket massacre followed by riots fighting for justice, Americans finally achieved the 8 hour working day. the first American homosexual-rights organization was founded here. the first publication for gays, Friendship and Freedom, was produced here. and of course, from here, we elected the first black president of the United States of America. Chicago was a great city. but unfortunately, it is not so good lately. the prison system is mistructured with people having mental health problems, and the public schools are brutally shut down in favor of charter schools. the poor become poorer, and the rich become richer. it is time for us to take over Chicago again, awaken the spirit of dream and action, create miracles, and make people believe in their own power again!
I have a proposal! Chicago is known as the windy city and the extremely cold winter has always being a low-point for whoever wants to live here. if we can reshape the Chicago landscape, changing it from a flatland into a basin, it can increase the average temperature by 10 degrees. this 10 degrees means 80% less extreme weather and 70% less energy use on heating. is that possible? of course! 150 years ago, people here could make the entire city higher. we sure can make the entire suburb higher too. it just requires some simple creativity and artistic strategies.
Here is the plan! Chicago is a metropolis creating hundreds of tons of trash everyday. if we landfill the trash in suburb areas around, the entire land elevation will be lifted up within ten years, and by creating this wall of mountains around the city, a warm nest will be built up, resisting the bitter coldness from the north, but still enjoy the warmth and pleasure from the lake. taking over the suburbs, making them trash mountains also means bring back to the city all the white people with money and some of those without much money who moved out of the city since the blockbusting 1960s. also, increasing the temperature means the city will be a more suitable for people to live. during the summer, it will be even as warm as California. people will move to Chicago. and by the increase of population, more jobs will be created, more taxes will be collected. there could even be a chance to fill up that gigantic social security fund hole! everybody wins!
So what can we do? we just need to fill up our landfill trash bins! by simply moving the merchandise from retail stores, such as Target and CVS, into fashionable trash bins, we will all make an impact that can be deeply appreciated in the greater plan! remember, it is the true uniting of people that made up Chicago’s history, it will only be us truly uniting again, making the city a better city, making the country a better country and making our life a better life. thank you!
