The R.O.C and My First Protest

Recently I joined an organization known as the R.O.C (the Restaurant Opportunity Center) to get my career a jump start.

The R.O.C is a non-profit group, where they help restaurant workers find employment and protect the rights of those employees. They have offices in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and other major cities in the United States.

During my spring break from my college, I was able to join in to one of there protests in front of the restaurant Capital Grill on St. Clair Road in Chicago. The reason why we are protesting against Capital Grill was because there was some indiscriminate firing of staff, low wages and mistreating of the cooks, servers and all the other staff who work so hard to make a good product. As we were preparing in a Dunken Doughnuts for our chants, I got a chance to learn more about what the R.O.C is about.

It is more then just finding jobs and teaching about the rights of workers. It is a movement were the goal is to make the culinary position more sustainable for anyone who wants to be in the restaurant business and to make the world a better place for cooks, dishwashers and the servers out in the front lines. To me, this is a good thing to have in the restaurant world, because becoming a chef is more than serving food to mouths. It is about giving generosity to others who appreciate food as much as people who they are serving to.

Once everyone else was in position, we started walking around in a circle; chanting out to the public of there misdeeds in the warm, cloudy night. We had a few stares, smiles and cheering from the crowds who pass by our carousel of protest. Jessie Jackson passed by us in his car to give support our cause. There was also a civilian who just started to join in our chant to support us. One of the leaders named Will was leading us the way with his mega phone in his hand to cry out the two lined poetry of justice.

After about an hour, we finish off with a cheer of excitement to end this weeks protest. They usually have protests every week depending on what month it is, but as long as Capital Grill keeps on mistreating the staff, the R.O.C will come back to protest against the establishment. So far the R.O.C made 16 protests all over the country to support the cause.

At the end of the night, I felt so powerful that I know that my voice can make a difference. Im not sure how long the protests will continue, but I am willing to keep going until the goal can be reached.