Chicago Politics

Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression Community Conversation 3.30.25

Chapters

Description

Mayor Brandon Johnson attends the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression Community Conversation event.

Transcript

0:16 Okay, I can now join that octogenarian club. Greetings, everyone, and let me welcome you to this community listening where the mayor will speak to us and address some of the questions that we have. I want to thank Trinity Church for hosting this historic meeting, and I want to thank

0:49 all of you for coming. The idea of us having a community listening with the mayor is a direct response to the attacks on the Brendan Johnson administration by local reactionaries, racists, and in some cases, just misguided people who are being used by the powers that be to push their agenda. When we went to Washington, D.C. to stand with the mayor, when he was called before Congress to defend Chicago as a sanctuary city and also to defend himself from a barrage of racist attacks, we saw firsthand that there's a war being perpetrated against Chicago by Donald Trump and his administration.

1:43 And I may not speak for everybody here, certainly don't speak for everybody in this city, but I certainly speak for all of us who were involved in organizing this meeting. We are with our mayor against Donald Trump. That's how we stand. That's not to say that there are not differences.

2:15 There are. But whatever differences we may have, we are very clear that those differences are not equal in any way with the differences we have with the Trump administration, with the guy who wants to be king. We saw that before Trump got elected president. We saw that when Governor Abbott of Texas spent millions of dollars sending thousands

2:47 of immigrants to Chicago. ago. And why were they sent here? We heard Trump's lackeys in Congress say that the mayor invited them. That's a lie. But that didn't happen. They were sent here to torpedo and undermine the Johnson administration. They were sent to create distraction and disunity

3:17 among our people so that we could not focus on the progressive agenda that this administration was elected to enforce. So here today, we're asking the mayor to engage us so that we can be helpful in defending this administration against those attacks against our city, against our mayor, and against our people. Thank you.

4:05 So I know now you guys came to see me. So thank you very much. But let me, let's cut to the meat. Let's welcome our mayor.

4:36 Wow, thank you so much. Please be seated. Thank you. Thank you, Frank, for your leadership and your... Well, thank you for that. Thank you for raising that today. We certainly have had issues with our police department over the years.

5:07 And since I've been in office, we have been working very hard to ensure that our law enforcement is behaving constitutionally. But I can tell you one thing for sure. Under my administration, my commitment to make sure that there is real justice for our people is my top priority. Thank you. I will ask that you honor and respect God's sanctuary.

6:15 I will again ask that you please respect and honor God's sanctuary. As as as Baba, as Baba Frank said, there are differences. We acknowledge that. We sincerely acknowledge that. But I ask that you respect and honor God's sanctuary.

6:49 We will not be able to go forward. We will not be able to go forward. Again, I will ask that you please honor and respect God's sanctuary. Thank you. Thank you very much.

7:42 I will again ask that you please honor and respect God's sanctuary. There are questions that will be asked of the mayor relative to police.

8:15 Please, please, please, please. Thank you. I have two asks of everyone in here. One is that we respect and honor God's sanctuary.

8:49 This is a place for all. The second is, there are people that are recording, and we distinctly said no recording. If you do not want to be removed, please stop recording. Now, let's take care of the business that we said we were going to do. There's going to be questions. All the questions are not the most favorable.

9:21 let's say, if you will, but the questions have to be asked. So let's go by the process. Amen? Thank you. Well, thank you all again for your patience today. I do want to recognize that there is a great deal of frustration and animus that exists in this city for a very long time. The truth of the matter is, is that police brutality is something that has plagued our city, and too many of our folks have been criminalized because of

9:51 their blackness or because of their addiction. And I know that from a very personal note of having brothers who have dealt with untreated trauma and have been criminalized, and one of whom died addicted and unhoused. The frustration that is being expressed today is one that we have held for generations. But I can tell you one thing for sure, that though we have inherited a mess, we're going to clean it up and we're going to do that together. I do recognize that expectations for a black man are quite profound.

10:28 I embrace those expectations. Being raised by one, I'm certainly not intimidated by a moment where our people are expressing their hurt and their pain. Now listen, whether you cause the pain or not, it is our collective responsibility to help make sure that there is a balm and that we heal the deep, deep, profound pain that our people have experienced, not just since police brutality in this city, but since we were brought over on the Maafa, through the Maafa, on the slave ships.

10:58 Our people have been tortured and tormented and brutalized and handcuffed for a very long time. But I will say this. We have certainly have rocked the world in Chicago. Chicago is not necessarily known for its earthquakes. But I can tell you this, there was generational rainfall and flooding and smoke coming in from the wildfires in Canada. And that happened at the very onset of my administration, of which my wife reminded me that if the locusts come, you might want to repent, brother.

11:33 Now, I have repented, by the way, and I do acknowledge the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. And that is what provides me with the humility that is needed in this moment. You know, if you ask our young people and our organizers, our teachers, if you ask our service workers, if you ask the humble and the hardworking people in Chicago what they experienced April 4th, 2023, when I was elected, I know that they will tell you emphatically that the earth and the ground did shift here in Chicago.

12:14 Because there was a clear choice. It came down to electing a new, vibrant hope for this city. Or we could subject people more to school closings and privatization, shuttered mental health clinics, more jobs leaving Chicago, more disinvestment, more communities being left behind, more of the same old, same old. It was government of, by, and for the wealthy and the well-connected, a government that responded to the interests of lawyers and bankers and investors and only to certain developers.

12:51 It was a government that responded to the financial advisors and school privatizers and billionaires. It was a government that responded to international corporations, but now we have a government that is for the people and by the people for the first time in 40 years. You see, Chicago once took a chance. They decided to choose government that would respond to the workers, to everyday people, dishwashers and bus drivers and educators, everyday people in our city.

13:24 And that meant instead of closing our neighborhood schools or privatizing them, we would invest in our schools. We would turn them into sustainable community schools and make the school the center of an entire community. And it meant investing in our public health, investing in our young people, investing in affordable housing, and investing in all of Chicago. And so I'm here today to give you an update on what we've done so far. We have more women running departments than ever before in the history of Chicago.

13:56 We have more black and brown folks running government, more than we've ever experienced in the history of Chicago. And so after two years, we put forth a bold, very progressive black agenda that will respond to the interests of all of Chicagoans. And first of all, we look at our city today and we know that investments are up. And we know that investments are up because we put our own eyes on those who have been marginalized in this city.

14:27 And so now you're seeing and hearing the sound of transformation, particularly for people who live on the west and south side of Chicago. In fact, you're hearing so much sound and construction that I'm getting complaints that there are too many construction jobs that are happening at the same time. Trucks and jackhammers at 6 o'clock in the morning and streets being blocked off. And I know how annoying it is. But that's the sound of rebuilding a Chicago that works for the people of Chicago.

14:58 That's the sound of us reopening a free mental health clinic on the far south side of the city of Chicago, that our people can get the treatment that they deserve regardless of their ability to pay. That's the sound of 30,000 lead pipes being replaced so that our people can finally get clean water in their homes. It's the sound of us paving. It's the sound of us paving our streets and repairing our sidewalks. It's the sound of building the new turf field at Julian High School. It's the sound of Grace Manor Affordable Apartment Complex on the west side of Chicago and North Lawndale.

15:32 It's the sound of a new community health hub being built in Austin. That's the sound that we're hearing across the city of Chicago. It's the sound of a $1.25 billion bond investment, the largest bond investment for economic development, for housing and economic development in the history of Chicago. That means lower rents and more jobs. That's the sound that we are experiencing and feeling in Chicago. And I know you can hear that sound. It's the sound of $830 million for infrastructure.

16:06 Because there was a woman who said to me, a black woman, and black women are so brutally honest. She said, Mayor, you're either going to fix these streets or you're going to fix my car. So I decided to put forth $830 million to repave our streets, fix our potholes, fix our crumbling bridges, and making sure that we have adequate lighting throughout our city. It's also a tremendous honor to announce the 1901 project on the west side of Chicago.

16:37 It's a $7 billion investment on the west side to build housing, retail space, and green space. $5 billion for CyQuantum on the southeast side of Chicago where the steel mills once were there. And when that community was left for dead, we put forth a $5 billion investment for new technology that has the ability to draw $20 billion of new investments on the southeast side of Chicago. That's the sound of investment for the people of this amazing city.

17:09 Jobs are back. Our neighborhoods are back. The sound of our city is coming back. That sounds good to me. It really does. That's just a snapshot, though, you all. Our investments are up. When I came into office, we heard the cries of the workers. It's James chapter five. Woe unto the rich who deny wages to the workers. The Bible says that I hear their cries. And when the workers in this city said they needed a day off, I did the righteous thing.

17:40 I gave them 10. That's one point two eight million one point two million workers that have 10 paid days off. We also abolish the subminimum wage, vestiges of slavery, where our people coming out of slavery were asked to work beneath the minimum wage. Well, we abolish that, and 60,000-plus workers who work in our restaurants will receive wages, raise wages every single year until they get to the minimum wage on top of their tips.

18:16 And so we've also settled contracts with the police department. Our park district workers. Our park district workers experienced the highest raise that they've ever experienced since they had been park district workers. 37,000 new construction jobs. That means workers' rights are up and exploitation is down. Look, you know, I'm careful to say something too soon, but we're really close, you all. for the first time in 15 years to get a teacher's contract without a strike or a strike vote.

18:55 When I was running for office, they said it would be a liability, but it sounds like to me that no other mayor could have brought Chicago Public Schools, the Board of Education, the mayor's office, and the CTU together to the table to make sure that our children get exactly what they deserve, which is a fully funded, well-rounded education. We've built in more homes as well, 4,000 new affordable homes. 1,800 that are under construction, almost 4,600 in the next 15, 18 months.

19:28 We also passed the Cut the Tape initiative, getting bureaucracy out of the way so that we can move business through the city of Chicago faster. In 2024, you all, through our planning commission for development, $11 billion of new investment. more investment in 2024 than we had in 2022 and 23 combined and 11 billion dollars last year it's barely march of april the end of march we're already at eight billion dollars of new

20:02 investments this year we're building a better stronger and a much safer chicago now in closing grateful that we had some folks provocating why we need more mental and behavioral health services. Since Mayor here of Washington, every single administration has cut mental health services. Not only did I stand alongside of the hunger strikers and became a hunger striker myself to make sure that we can have a school on the south side of Chicago where children can attend,

20:33 and now here we are a decade later when an administration gave up on that school. That That school just produced champions because Dyad High School, 2A boys basketball varsity team brought home a championship. It left that community for dead, but we resurrected through our organizing. And there were also individuals who chained themselves to mental health clinics because you had administrations that had a tremendous amount of animus towards our public accommodations.

21:04 Not only did we reopen the mental health clinic on the far south side of Chicago, we expanded mental health services on the lower west side, the Pilsen Clinic, Legler Library on the west side of Chicago, all offering mental health and behavioral health services. The first mayor since mayor here in Washington to invest in public mental health services. 200 more detectives, more technology to make sure that our law enforcement have all the tools that we need.

21:35 And in closing, you know, this is not about me. This is about the people of this city. Now, I know some folks want to make it about me, but I understand something. You know, in the African tradition, you can tell a lot about a community based upon how the children are experiencing that community. In fact, if I understand, I'm not a theologian, so correct me if I'm wrong, Pastor. But on the continent, it was very common for us to greet one another with the question, how are the children?

22:14 And if the children aren't well, then we know that we haven't done our part. Well, since I've been in office, I've made sure that our young people are seen and valued and heard and to make sure that they can find their purpose. Forty-five percent increase in youth employment. Twenty-nine thousand jobs are available for our young people this summer. A 45% increase. And so in other words, you all, as shootings continue to go down and youth employment goes up, as homicides go down and apprenticeships go up, as robberies go down and clearance rates go up,

22:49 as despair goes down and the hope that continues, the bubble continues to go up, we need to make sure that we continue to move in the direction of promise and prosperity. The sugarcoating that many people have done for too long is over. It doesn't mean that we've done everything right. It just simply means that we're doing everything that we can to make sure we get it right. So no longer are we going to stand and watch the interests of the wealthy and billionaires

23:22 and the ruling class continue to dictate how we govern. We're going to make sure that we create more job opportunities, that we provide more mental and behavioral health care services, that we invest in our education system, and that we ensure that good paying jobs and time off becomes the regular form of governance. And we're going to do that together. So I'm looking forward to the conversation that we will have today because I'll make one thing very clear, that the individual that is behaving in one of the most iniquitous acts of government that is working to intimidate us, to get us to disrupt the evolution of our democracy,

23:57 to get us to surrender our humanity, no matter what the president says or does, we will continue to move to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago and inclusive economy that works for everyone. God bless you all. Thank you very much.

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