Editor’s note: be sure to check out our video announcement above about our return to our regular schedule and what you can expect in the coming weeks. Welcome back to And Campaign Chicago’s Civic Update!
The Round Up
Here are the stories that caught our eyes this week and what they mean for the weeks ahead.
City-owned grocery store could be coming to Chicago’s food deserts
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has launched study of proposed municipally-owned grocery stores.
The Economic Security Project, a progressive nonprofit founded in 2016 to promote guaranteed-income policies, will partner with the city on the study.
The study comes after multiple grocery stores have closed, predominately in South and West Side neighborhoods.
Why closing Chicago's racial wealth gap became a priority
Real estate speculators profited from racial fears in Chicago decades ago by buying houses for sale in white areas, then jacking up selling prices for Black families.
They knew they could get away with higher prices because Black families' lower incomes meant most banks would deny them loans.
The effects still reverberate today and are a major contributor to Chicago's wide and persistent racial wealth gap.
The Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, was formed in 2016 to protect area residents from displacement due to the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.
Obama and his foundation selected Jackson Park as the site for his presidential center and library in 2016.
Activists say they have been concerned about being displaced from the neighborhood due to rising home maintenance costs.
Do you have ideas for future Civic Update stories or want to contribute a story yourself? Email our editor by clicking the button below!
Newsclips
Should city plan its own downtown celebration for Mexican Independence Day?
Environmental activists reflect on past organizing and next steps
DNC appoints top execs for Chicago convention
Labor rights
What’s next for SAG-AFTRA members and others working In Chicago?
Activists demand Amazon increase hiring, wages
Chicago one step closer to ending subminimum wages for tipped workers
Housing
Chicago-area home prices growing at twice the speed of the nation's
Cook County program providing new homes to 1,000 vulnerable people
Paul Vallas: How Chicago could fund affordable housing without a tax hike
Closed West Englewood school will become affordable housing
Education
More Chicago students met reading and math standards in 2022-23, data show
CPS enrollment stabilizes for first time in a decade
Op-ed: Suburban teachers are unprepared to serve undocumented students
Migrant crisis
Why is funding for asylum seekers so divisive in Chicago’s Black community?
Chicago's oldest taqueria has nurtured immigrant dreams for half a century
Willie Wilson: Chicago taxpayers deserve transparency on migrant spending
Criminal justice
Hundreds of Chicago cops can’t testify in court
Op-ed: Chicago police facing discipline should not have cases decided in secret
Share this post