We accompanied two friends to a “No Kings” rally Satuday in Kankakee. It has been decades since we personally witnessed any kind of political demonstration. The only other time was during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

As a still wet-behind-the-ears columnist in the old Neighborhood News section of the Chicago Tribune, I, along with others, was told by our editors to stay away from any “street action.”

Getting caught up in the turmoil of violence in the streets of the city, getting arrested or getting injured during one of the many street brawls, was not tolerated, we were told. Some stayed away but a few of us lurked in the dark street corners and became silent witnesses. Others — friends — were more active.

Through the years there have been other barriers to a reporter’s i

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