Injustice Watch has relaunched its Essential Work project about young Black Chicago activists. In this essay, an organizer known as Naira reflects on the summer uprisings and pushes back on the dehumanization of Black radicals and protesters, from Assata Shakur to today’s Black youth.
After a historic budget season, 21 City Council members voted against the mayor’s proposed budget last week. City Bureau spoke with organizers and members of City Council about their plans moving forward.
We likely won’t see the 75% cut that organizers have asked for, but there are some proposals on the table.
Three weeks ago, the nation was transfixed on images of people running out of downtown stores with their hands full. But the historic plunder of Black Chicago deserves our attention, too.
With shootings and murders on the rise and President Trump sending federal agents to the city, community organizers and criminologists point to a police hiring spree from just four years ago to show that more cops on Chicago’s streets aren’t the answer.
Miracle Boyd, 18, is an organizer with GoodKids MadCity and a rising Chicago youth leader. An unidentified police officer struck her in the mouth Friday at a Black, Indigenous American rally, breaking several of her teeth.
For activists and city leaders calling on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to cut the police budget, it’s clear that the money could be better spent elsewhere.