For community organizers like Merawi Jeremiah of the Chicago Coalition Against Racism and Political Repression (CAARPR), the Johnson administration is the ideal administration under which to organize.
“The whole fight to support the Brandon Johnson administration was basically choosing which administration you would prefer to organize under, and I think a lot of people saw it that way,” Gerima said, referring to the 2023 mayoral runoff between Johnson and challenger Paul Vallas. .
Girima added that previous administrations attacked the movement. He said winning the mayoralty for Vallas in 2023 would be a less-than-ideal situation for the movement's work.
The movement has been able to grow and achieve amazing gains. It was a great first year, and the movement was also a great year because of the environment we were able to organize in.
But not everyone who voted for Johnson supports a progressive agenda that supports investment in nurturing rather than punitive institutions. The progressive agenda also includes policies that heal everyone marginalized communities, leading to transformation.
Some feel that blacks, who fought for position and power in city government, should be the first to reap the direct benefits of righting the wrongs of slavery, Jim Crow, and other systemic harms.
Although the Johnson administration prioritized some policies that benefited Chicago's working class, the immigrant housing crisis worsened Pre-existing tensions Among black and brown populations. Black Chicagoans protested the Johnson administration's funding of emergency care for immigrants from Latin America.
“We don't feel heard. If we were heard, you wouldn't see such anger in the black community,” said the Rev. Rich Redmond, a former media personality and Washington aide in the 1980s, referring to tensions between black and colored residents.
Johnson chose two Latinas – Beatriz Ponce de Leon and Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th District) – To lead the city’s efforts to care for and shelter migrants. Ponce de Leon is the Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Vasquez is chair of the Chicago City Council Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
“His policies, just the bottom line, were not geared toward helping the black community, but all the others (non-blacks) making all kinds of progress. And imagine what? “White people don’t feel (these policies) either.”
Redmond has been vocal about his opposition to appointing a Latino chief of staff and said blacks should have been appointed to immigration-related positions.
“He did not immediately look toward the community that elected him. “He pushed us aside and went with a community that gave him fewer votes than Lightfoot got,” Redmond said, referring to Johnson's Latino Cabinet appointments.
During his first year in office, Johnson created new roles within his cabinet, including Deputy Mayor for Community Safety; Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations and the city's first chief homelessness officer.
“When we talk about political agendas and political campaigns, it's not just about getting any Black person in there. “There has to be someone responsible,” Ransby said. She was also a member of Johnson Transition Committee Before his inauguration in 2023.
While that was true of Johnson's appointment of Jane Johnson as deputy mayor of education, some of the appointments were not without controversy. Johnson faced criticism when he nominated Marilyn Hopkins to head the city's buildings department.
after Failed demolition 2020 in The little village, which hurt the majority Latino community, the city's inspector general recommended disciplinary action against Hopkins, Jorge Herrera who also worked in the buildings department and Dave Graham, assistant commissioner of the city's public health department. While Hopkins was administrative deputy commissioner for the Department of Buildings, Johnson appointed Hopkins to his cabinet position in April.
On June 17, after this story was released, Hopkins reached out to The TRiiBE and shared her side of the story. Responsibility for post-explosion dust mitigation falls to the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), she said, adding that CDPH is required by law under the EPA to develop dust mitigation strategies when demolitions occur.
“Our role was to make sure that the internal explosion occurred, that the debris landed in the landing zone and did not come out of the construction site, and that is exactly what happened,” Hopkins said. “If the building department had any role or any role to play in mitigating the dust, things would have been done differently.”
In April, a federal judge approved a $12.25 million settlement in a class action lawsuit brought by Little Village residents against Hilco.
“I think there is a way in which communities need to do some healing. For example, the black and colored community in Chicago needs some healing so that we can work toward common interests more often than we do,” Ransby said.
“It is still a very segregated city, a very unequal city. There has been report after report on this,” she added. “So access to resources, jobs, community benefits agreements, equity in schools, housing for all, these are the material interests that will serve, empower and guide our people.” Toward a liberating future.”
Johnson said what has been accomplished while he has been in office so far has come about thanks to collaboration between Black and brown leadership on the City Council.
“We have to prioritize the neighborhoods that are hardest hit, which are black neighborhoods. “All of these measures passed because we had black and brown people working together,” he said. Some of the policies he pointed out include His new department at Reentry, a $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development bond deal, which eliminated the minimum wage and approved paid leave. Black and brown workers are greatly impacted by the latter two, he added.
For Johnson, healing among Black and people of color communities looks like everyone has what they need.
“I hope people approach government through the lens of love and justice. This is the way I deal with it,” he explained. “Healing for me is justice. Healing for me is when people get everything they need. What I put forward is a vision of people getting what they deserve and need, and constantly reminding people that there is more than enough for all of us.”
