B*tch & Wine: Free and Passionate Rhetoric in the Face of Fascism

The Rogers Park community gathered Sept. 25 in Jarvis Square for the second B*tch & Wine event, consisting of an organized series of rants, drag performances and a collective primal scream — all aided by plenty of wine. 

Hosted by Sid Kingston, lead singer of the band Sid Kingston and co-founder of Protect Rogers Park Marissa Graciosa, the event was held at Taste Food & Wine, a wine shop off the Red Line Jarvis station. 

The goal of B*tch & Wine is to bring community members together to blow off steam. The flyer posted on Facebook and Instagram read, “Join with your neighbors to fight fascism, melt ICE, & build community through storytelling!” 

“We can’t fight the man unless we have a little joy,” Graciosa said. 

The first B*tch & Wine event was held Aug. 28. Graciosa said the second event’s turnout exceeded expectations, given they had only advertised in the last week. 

Kingston and Graciosa said they’re planning for a third event in October but don’t yet have a set date. 

B*tch & Wine attendees were given the opportunity to sign up for a two to three minute preplanned rant. 

Rants weren’t allowed to be recorded or shared outside of meetings in an attempt to create a sense of freedom and safety with speech. 

“So people don’t have to worry about things being taken out of context,” Kingston said. “We want people to come and just let loose and not worry.”

It was a diverse crowd, ages ranging from 19 to 78, college students to retirees. 

Political views were generally shared among attendees. The organization co-hosting the event, Protect Rogers Park, was founded in 2016 by partners Graciosa and Gabe Gonzalez, “built for fending off ICE, and community defense,” according to Graciosa. The Protect Rogers Park organization has ramped up their activity in light of increased ICE operations in Chicago. 

ICE recently launched Chicago area operation “Midway Blitz” Sept. 8, causing concern and fear among immigrant and activist communities, The Phoenix reported.

Graciosa said while President Trump was talking about picking up immigrants in 2016, the need for Protect Rogers Park didn’t come into fruition the same way it has now. 

Graciosa said the idea for Bitch & Wine came from Tricia Hersey, the author of “Rest is Resistance.” Hersey held a similar event, Rant for a Reason, on the South Side. 

“It was cathartic, brought people together,” Graciosa said. 

Hersey did not respond to a request for comment. 

In their opening spiel, Kingston said positive “catcalling” is encouraged and reviewed the outlined policies for those gearing up to rant. Another restriction was to not name individuals unless they’re in positions of power. 

Rants could be political, personal or a bit of both. Attendee Erin Daly, 37, said they came to rant about recently being laid off from her job at an animal shelter for unionizing. 

“Corporations and organizations treat their staff like shit cause they’re afraid of losing their power,” Daly said. “It was just kind of my breaking point.”

Performer Winter Diorr, 27, has been the event’s guest appearance for the August and September dates, providing three uniquely vibrant and energizing drag performances throughout the evening. 

“This event, in particular, gives a space for us to be able to scream, literally,” Diorr said. “For us to be able to share our feelings without it having to make sense, without it having to be intellectual.” 

Graciosa said in addition to uplifting events like Bitch & Wine, Protect Rogers Park has so far held three nonviolent ICE defense trainings. 

“A lot of people want to resist,” Graciosa said. “They want to figure out how they build their defense teams, and just need to get trained.”

The organization has also created a Signal group chat where members send alerts about ICE activity. Anyone who is available will show up at the location of the reported sighting to sit, stare and sometimes confront the officer. 

Loretta Lime, 72, said she acts as a verifier for reported sightings. 

“If I see that on the thread, I go there, I talk to the people, I stand, watch,” Lime said. “Not everybody can be responsive immediately, but we’re retired, you know, so, we’re around, and we can just jump up.” 

Tim Harrington, Lime’s husband and a Loyola alum, said he’s someone who takes photos and videos of the sighting and any resulting interaction. 

“We got a call that there was a halfway house on North Damen that they were gonna hit,” Harrington, 78, said. “They had hit a daycare center, like, 2 days before. So this is really, absolute bullshit.”

He said he thinks ICE is specifically looking for vulnerable populations to target.

In her speech near the beginning of the event, Graciosa told the audience, we have to be “sand in the gears,” fighting back against ICE in Chicago. 

“We’re going to cost them time and money,” Graciosa said. 

Kingston, 40, is a therapist on the Southwest Side. Kingston reflected on the anxiety and detriments to mental health that expanded ICE presence has caused. They said they’re trying to help as best as they can with their patients living this.

Diorr said she feels the people who organize and attend B*tch & Wine are family. She immediately felt like she belonged, and they made a special space for her. 

“This is the second time that I’ve met them but I genuinely feel like they’re family,” Diorr said. “I was overwhelmed with the love I felt from everyone yesterday.”