This demand is simple enough. The City of Chicago should not honor a fascist from the 1930's.

Italo Balbo was not a neutral historical figure or simply an aviator. He was a leading official in Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, a man who helped build and legitimize a dictatorship rooted in violence, repression, colonialism, and political terror.

Yet in Chicago, his name still appears on public space, and a monument gifted in his honor still stands in a city park.
This is unacceptable.

Chicago is a city of workers, immigrants, antifascists, and communities who have fought against racism, authoritarianism, and political violence. Public land should reflect those values. Keeping Balbo memorials in place sends the message that fascist collaborators can still be honored here, so long as time has passed and people stop asking questions.

We reject the false idea that honoring Balbo honors Italian heritage. Fascism is not Italian culture. Mussolini is not our history to celebrate. Chicago’s Italian American community deserves representation rooted in dignity, labor, migration, resistance, and antifascism — not dictatorship.

This city's history belongs in museums, classrooms, and public interpretation grounded in truth. Removing Balbo’s name and monument is not about "erasing Italian-American history."

Honor is something different. Street names, monuments, and public memorials are not neutral records of the past. They are statements about what a city chooses to celebrate.

We call on the residents and neighbors across Chicago, the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward and Alderman Lamont Robinson of the 4th Ward to:

1. Remove Italo Balbo’s name from the half mile stretch of downtown thoroughfare that runs from State Street east to Lake Shore Drive.
2. Rename the avenue after a local Italian-American figure that fought for human dignity, justice and freedom.
3. Remove the Balbo monument/pillar from Burnham Park.
4. Transfer the monument to a museum, archive, or other historical setting where it can be properly contextualized.

Chicago cannot claim to stand for freedom and democracy while continuing to honor a fascist official in its public landscape.

The time to remove Balbo’s legacy from Chicago’s public space is now. Chicago should not celebrate fascism!

Sign this petition to demand action.