Author: Paul

What we saw in the streets of Chicago last night

Last night, we drove downtown to provide rides to young people who were trapped, due to Mayor Lightfoot’s sudden declaration of a curfew, and lock down of the loop. As we drove down Roosevelt to get to the South Loop to get to the safe space where youth had gathered for safety and safe transport, I passed hundreds of other young people, Black and Brown walking and sometimes running to get away from downtown. I saw young Black and Brown people Read more

Statement: Building Real Equity in the TIF Program Requires Community Engagement, Not Clouted Corporate Firms

CHICAGO – Grassroots Collaborative is a labor community coalition that has been working to reform the TIF program for over a decade. Yesterday, Grassroots Collaborative, along with our co-plaintiff Illinois Raise Your Hand for Public Education, appealed the trial court decision in our lawsuit against the City of Chicago over the creation of the TIF district for Lincoln Yards, and the history of discriminatory uses of TIF favoring affluent Read more

Green New Deal NOW

Organizations across Illinois have come together as a state-wide coalition to win a Green New Deal at the federal and local level to enact a just transition from fossil fuels and extractive industries to mitigate climate disaster, while transforming our economy and society to provide economic security and social, racial and environmental justice for all.

Budget Address Statement: Chicago is Not Broke, the City’s Priorities Are

Grassroots Collaborative Response to Mayor Lightfoot’s Budget Address Chicago, IL – The following is a statement from Amisha Patel, Executive Director of Grassroots Collaborative on Mayor Lightfoot’s budget address. “We hoped that Mayor Lightfoot would choose to work with parents, teachers, and community leaders to end the Tale of Two Cities that has plagued Chicago for generations but that is not the choice we see her making in this Read more

Statement: Grassroots Collaborative Lauds House Passage of Fair Tax

CHICAGO – On Tuesday, the Illinois House passed the Fair Tax Constitutional Amendment. The following is a statement by Grassroots Collaborative Executive Director Amisha Patel. “The passage of the Fair Tax Amendment in the House is great news for Illinois working families that have for far to long been burdened by the state’s outdated regressive tax system. It is fundamentally unfair for teachers and service workers to pay the same tax rate as Read more

Illinois People’s Agenda

Counter to the narrative coming out of the Governor’s office, the People’s Agenda points out that the state of Illinois is not spending too much, but rather is spending too little. Illinois has the 5th largest economy in the country and is the 13th wealthiest state, yet ranks 47th in spending on K-12 education, higher education, healthcare, public safety, and human services. In order to bring Illinois in line with other Midwest states, the Read more

Downtown Prosperity, Neighborhood Neglect

Grassroots Collaborative’s report, Downtown Prosperity, Neighborhood Neglect: Chicago’s Black and Latino Workers Left Behind looks at the racial inequality created by city priorities through exploration of US Census data. The report lays out a sharp racial disparity in downtown job gains and losses.  From 2002 to 2011, Black majority city zip codes suffered a median loss of 620 downtown jobs per zip code and Latino majority city Read more

Turned Around

A report by the ReFund America project on how the swaps that were supposed to save Illinois millions turned toxic. Illinois is in the throes of a major budget crisis. Even though residents have had to bear draconian cuts as critical services have been defunded, Wall Street has gotten a free pass in the state’s budget stalemate. More than halfway through the current fiscal year (as of January 2016), the Illinois General Assembly has Read more