The county will hold a public hearing next week to gain input on whether residents want to see Columbus Day renamed to Indigenous Peoples' Day. A group spearheading the initiative held a virtual rally Monday to explain the reasons for the proposed change, citing Christopher Columbus's exploitation of Native Americans. Similar efforts have been made in Chicago and at the state level, but none have managed to gain as much traction as the Indigenous Peoples' Day Coalition.

"It is well past time that we recognize as a county ... the failures and ills of the real history of this country," said Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson during the rally. "As long as we are celebrating and using tax dollars to give people the day off to honor ... someone like Christopher Columbus, that's a failure of our political system," he said.