Woman Embarks on Hunger Strike in Support of HR 40

Rachelle Zola has embarked on a planned 40-day hunger strike to create awareness of HR. 40, a House bill calling for a commission to study reparations for descendants of slaves. Her effort is being supported by Dominican University's Truth, Racial Healing and Reconciliation project, which hosted the launch of her strike on May 16. 

Zola, who took a restorative justice class as part of Dominican University's Master of Conflict Resolution program, drove from Tucson, AZ to Chicago in 2019 with the goal of living among Black and brown people and gaining a better understanding of the impact of systemic racism. A former special education teacher, she joined the Peace Corps at the age of 59. Throughout her current hunger strike, she is being hosted by Cosmopolitan United Church in Melrose Park, where she sits on the front lawn, ready to talk to passersby about HR 40. She will reach the 40th day of her hunger strike on June 24.

You can read a Chicago Tribune article about Rachelle Zola and her hunger strike here. 

Photo by Brian Cassella of the Chicago Tribune.