YSEALI PFP Day 31: This is What Change Looks Like

20 May 2019

20 May was a significant day in the herstory of Chicago. Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot, the first African American female and first gay Mayor of the City. Chicago City would be the largest city in the US to have a female Mayor. Since our first week in Chicago, we had heard many people discussing about wishlists for the City as well as their anticipation for the Inauguration.

The other ACYPL YSEALI Professional Fellows were attending the Mayor's inauguration ceremony, and left early in the morning. I comforted myself by guessing that the inauguration should be captured on some YouTube videos which I could watch later on.

I was about to climb out of bed to prepare to go to work, when I received a text from my host, asking me to meet him in the office to go to the inauguration together. Wee! Within 15 minutes, I was out of the house!

From Metropolitan Family Services, we took a taxi to WinTrust Arena.

This signage would have to be changed. Oh, and this was my first taxi ride in the US!

The passenger settles his/her own payment

The media was ready 

Performance by After Schools Matter Choir

 The prelude comprised performances from the following groups, which well reflect the diversity of Chicago City:

• Chicago Gay Men's Chorus 
• Puerto Rican Arts Alliance
• After School Matters Choir
• Native Veterans Group of Trickster Art Gallery and Ribbon Town Drum from Pokagon Band of Potawatomi
• Chicago Sinfonietta - Project Inclusion
• Merit School of Music

Native Veterans Group of Trickster Art Gallery

Ribbon Town Drum from Pokagon Band of Potawatomi (right)

Native Veterans Group of Trickster Art Gallery

Arrival of Eddie T. Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department

Shine On Chicago

The Master of Cermony, Amy Morton, a Steppenwolf Ensemble member announced the arrival of the Aldermen-elect, Illinois State leaders, dignitaries and religious leaders.

Thunderous applause for Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot

Posting of Colours by the Phoenix Military Academy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC):

Pledge of Allegiance led by Arturo Ballesteros, Back of the Yards College Prep:

National Anthem sung by Miguel Cervantes, Chicago's "Hamilton", accompanied by the Chicago Sinfonietta:

Miguel Cervantes, who plays Alexander Hamilton in "Hamilton" play

Colour Party took its leave:

Alfreda Burke and Rodrick Dixon sang "Make Them Hear You", accompanied by Fred Nelson III. They certainly made everyone hear their impactful vocals:

There were several prayers conducted by religious leaders.

Invocation: Rev. Dr. L. Bernard Jakes, Senior Pastor, West Point Missionary Baptist Church.
Prayer for Guidance: Imam Tariq I. El-Amin, Masjid Al-Taqwa.
Prayer for Peace: The Rev. Dr. Beth Brown, Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church.
Blessing: Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation.
Benediction: Father Thomas J. Harley, Pastor, Old Saint Patrick's Church.

Invocation by Rev. Dr. L. Bernard Jakes, Senior Pastor, West Point Missionary Baptist Church

Prayer of Guidance by Imam Tariq I. El-Amin:

City Clerk Anna M. Valencia was sworn in by the Honorable Mary C. Marubio, Associate Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County. The City Clerk is an elected position.

City Clerk Valencia then led the swearing in of the 50 Aldermen, representing the 50 wards of Chicago City. They form the City Council of Chicago.

Prayer for Peace by Rev. Dr. Beth Brown, Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church.

Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears was sworn in by the Honorable P. Scott Neville, Jr., Supreme Court Justice, First District of the Illinois Supreme Court. Conyears' adorable 3-year-old daughter held the bible for the oath taking. The City Treasurer is also an elected position.

Blessing by Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation. 

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was sworn in by the Honorable Susan E. Cox, Magistrate Judge, US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

For the first time in Chicago's history, the Mayor, City Clerk and City Treasurer are all females of colour.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot's inaugural address

Some snippets of her address (click here for her full address in text):

"If not me, then who? If not now, then when?"

Quoting Gwendolyn Brooks, “We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.”

Mayor Lightfoot made reference to the 4 stars in the flag of Chicago, and shared her 4 key priority areas:

1) Safety in every neighbourhood

Public safety should not be a commodity of the wealthy. A Mayor's Office for Public Safety headed by Deputy Mayor would be set up to address the issues.

2) Education 

Work with businesses and labour to ensure that youths are job ready when they graduate, and to develop a citywide workforce pipeline.

3) Stability 

The need to get fiscal house in order; resolve pension debt issue; invest into neighbourhoods and solve housing issues.

4) Integrity

"Putting Chicago government and integrity in the same sentence is …well… a little strange."

"No official in the City of Chicago …elected or appointed… should ever profit from his or her office." 

Mayor announced that she would sign an executive order to end Aldermanic privilege (Aldermen had the power to decide on zoning and this had led to abuses of power and corruption) that afternoon.

"Today …as we prepare to enter the third decade of the twenty first century… one out of every five children in Chicago still lives in poverty."

Mayor Lightfoot's address struck a chord with many amongst the audience. This could be attributed to the efforts of the Transition Committees' inputs. 

Standing ovation for Mayor Lightfoot

Full Speech:

With my host Ric Estrada. Thankful for the opportunity to be part of the Inauguration!

I went to meet Jacquie Algee, Vice President and Director of External Relations, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare. I was connected to Jacquie via Denise over a dinner conversation.

Jacquie Algee (right) with her team holding placards supporting the new Mayor

We took a taxi to the McCormick Place, where the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) Chicago was holding a protest against the National Restaurant Association (NRA). The NRA show was ongoing at McCormick Place. The ROC is a membership-based restaurant workers’ organisation that advocates for restaurant workers' rights.

McCormick Place is a convention centre

McCormick Place

As soon as we alighted from the taxi, we met a few students who were heading to the protest site. They passed us some t-shirts. The protest centred around the wage conditions of tipped workers. Tipped workers were given a subminimum wage of USD6.25 an hour as compared to the minimum wage of USD12 an hour for other workers. Tipped workers are defined by workers who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips. Based on federal law, employers are obliged to ensure that wages for tipped workers and their tips collected amount to at least the minimum wage. ROC advocates for #1fairwage, which means one set of minimum wage to cover all workers, including tipped workers, regardless of the amount of tips received by them.

When the demography of tipped workers is considered, one can understand the complexity of the issue. In Chicago, 54% of tipped workers are women. Women tipped workers earn 87 cents with every dollar their male counterparts receive, and 65 cents for every dollar their white male counterparts receive. 16% of tipped workers are black, and they earn 70 cents for every dollar their white counterparts receive. 41.7% of black tipped workers and 20.5% of women tipped workers access food stamps.

The ROC is a partner of SEIU Healthcare, and Jacquie was invited to address protesters to give them support, so I got to listen to her fiery speech.

Participants of the protests chanted, "If we don't get it, shut it down!"

According to a handout I received from the protestors, the subminimum wage in Chicago began to increase in 2015 by USD1.30 to its current level of USD6.25 an hour. The wage gap between the minimum and the subminimum wage in Chicago has now reached USD5.75 an hour. 

The protest drew some students as some of them part-time as tipped workers.

From 2016-2017, the growth rate of full-service workforce (where most tipped workers are concentrated), outpaced that of Chicago's total job growth.

Jacquie Algee joining in the protest. I politely declined due to my profession.

Jacquie Algee giving a passionate rallying call in support of the sisters and brothers of ROC

ROC activists also reached out to the public to generate awareness to their cause

After Jacquie's speech, we left for lunch at Chinatown.

Chinatown Square

I must have spent about over two hours chatting with Jacquie on trade unionism in one of her favourite dining place. This was my first Chinese cuisine in the United States. She was a survivor mum, a term used to refer to mothers whose child was a victim of gun violence. It was inspiring to learn about how she eventually chose to advocate for workers' rights as part of the labour movement.

Lunch at Lao Sze Chuan restaurant

Since I was finally in Chinatown, I decided to explore the area.

Chinese American Veterans Memorial

The iconic entrance to Chinatown. The banner reads Justice for All.

Chinese Christian Union Church and a Church School

Waited for my UberPool right outside the City of Chicago's Fire Department

We learnt about the Emergency Rally to Save Reproductive Rights via facebook events that our friends from Indivisible Chicago were attending, and decided to check it out. 

The facebook event page detailed the event as follows:

Across the country, reproductive rights are under attack.

Anti-abortion forces are committed to overturning Roe v Wade, assaulting reproductive rights, and banning abortion in many parts of the country. Measures this week in Georgia, Alabama and Missouri reflect this reality. Illinois can protect abortion rights by passing the Reproductive Health Act, but we need everyone to contact their state representatives and urge them to support this critical legislation. This is urgent.

We are gathering in Federal Plaza to take a stand and declare that we won't go back. Join us in rallying support for the Reproductive Health Act.

Organizing Sponsors: ACLU of Illinois; Indivisible Chicago; Men4Choice; Personal PAC; Women's March Chicago

Supporting Sponsors: 38th Ward Democrats; Chicago Women Take Action; Democratic Women of McDonough County; Illinois Democratic Women; Illinois NOW; Indivisible Illinois; Indivisible Oak Park; National Council of Jewish Women; Illinois National Organization for Women - Chicago; SEIU Healthcare; She Votes Illinois; Will County NOW; Women's March DePaul; Women’s March - Illinois.

We were slightly late, and missed the speech by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle at Federal Plaza. But we were in time to see the protesters hitting the streets.

Protesters beginning their march at South Dearborn Street

Protesters in red were dressed as characters from The Handmaid's Tale

In May 2019, Republican-majority Alabama Senate voted 25-6 to outlaw almost all kinds of abortions, except in situations when the mother’s life is in danger. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill on 15 May 2019, making abortion a Class A felony, with doctors performing illegal abortion subjected to imprisonment of up to 99 years.

The move by several States to pass anti-abortion laws seemed to be provoking pro-choice supporters to trigger a review of the Roe v Wade case at the federal courts, giving a Republican-majority Supreme Court the chance to move towards a more pro-life position.

By the way, that's 1 North Dearborn, where I report to work at Metropolitan Family Services 

Protesters getting cheered on at Daley Center:

Protesters reached James R. Thompson Center, which houses Illinois State Government offices

Protesters chanted "My body, my choice!"

Protesters started singing "Lean On Me":

It's Jacquie Algee rallying the protesters again!

I asked a protester who held up an image of the coat hanger, and learnt that it symbolised illegal abortion, as in the old days, people actually used the coat hanger to self-induce abortions. 

Besides placards carrying pro-choice messages, there were also some more radically different ones like these:

Erm...

We managed to catch up with Marj and Denise who were busy debriefing the activists. It was amazing to learn that the emergency rally was only planned 4 days ago. The various organisations actually took 4 days to mobilise hundreds of Chicagoans to take to the streets at 5pm on a Monday! 

I was intrigued by how the entire rally was organised. Although the fact that pro-choice/pro-life matters are emotive to draw people to turn out in the numbers, the participating organisations' capacity to mobilise their supporters also depended on how they were continuously engaged. Participants were kept emotionally involved and charged up while they marched from Federal Plaza to Thompson Center, by chants and cheers. Thought-provoking placards, coat hanger symbols, and other creative messages added colour and vibrancy to the procession. The programme, speakers, songs, etc. 

Went for dinner at Harold's Chicken again.

Throughout the Chicago journey, we often end off the day thinking, "What an eventful day!"