We’re seeing the results of many years of hard work come together all at once this month. Here are some of the latest campaign developments and opportunities to mobilize! People power will move our issues across the finish line.
Here’s what you need to know:
New City Council Session Opens Thursday
We have two huge reasons to mobilize and show out at City Hall on the morning of September 14. Sign up below to join us for BOTH of these important events!
BRING CHICAGO HOME IS BEING INTRODUCED!
After 6 years of organizing and 2 mayors who opposed Bring Chicago Home, our resolution to increase funding for affordable housing is finally being introduced in City Hall this Thursday!
THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE IS THREATENING OUR SYSTEMS OF POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY!
City Hall is currently negotiating a new contract with the police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, that could render our system for police accountability null and void. An arbitrator (a person appointed to settle a dispute) working on the new contract recently decided that police facing the most severe forms of discipline should be able to have their cases heard behind closed doors. We need to call on the Mayor and City Council to stop this attempt dismantle the systems of police accountability and transparency.
JOIN US AT CITY HALL!
Join us at City Hall to support both these critical campaigns!
7:30am – Meet at ONE Northside office, 4648 N Racine and ride the Red Line together to City Hall. (Bring your own CTA card.)
8:30am – Rally for Bring Chicago Home, City Hall, 121 N LaSalle. (Exact location TBD, register for details).
9:15am – Press event for Police Accountability, City Hall 2nd floor. (We will all go together from the BCH rally.)
10:00am – City Council session starts.
Wear your orange shirts! Meet at City Hall if you can’t come to the office first. Email Max Yenkin with questions, my*****@on**********.org.
Organizing Campaigns Make Big Steps Forward – After Years of Hard Work
VICTORY! The Gang Database is gone!
Last week, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, which we created with the ECPS ordinance, voted to dismantle the Gang Database! Congratulations to the Erase the Database Coalition who worked for years to eliminate this racist and inaccurate database police used to label over 200,000 people as ‘gang members’, 95% of whom were people of color, and which led to more violent and more frequent encounters with police and other law enforcement agencies. The elimination of this database shows that we can start tearing down racist police practices with our new system for civilian oversight. We will continue to organize for more investments to address the root causes of violence.
Waitlist Act Moves Forward
More great housing news (that is long overdue)! We have organized for years to improve the broken system for waitlists for affordable housing units around the city — both those operated by private developers and by the Chicago Housing Authority. This month, Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez and Ald. Jeanette Taylor will introduce the Accountable Housing Anti-Discrimination Waitlist Act to address these issues.
We will be organizing actions in support of this act as it develops. Keep an eye on our social media and our Housing Justice newsletter to stay in action