Dozens gathered in Logan Square on the second anniversary of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s inauguration to raise issue with her policies on policing, housing and education.
Displaying “people’s report cards” that gave Lightfoot “F” grades for policing, education, the environment, housing, health and COVID-19, they chanted, “a people united will never be divided” and “if we don’t get it? Shut it down” as they marched through the neighborhood.
Some signed a large banner asking, “how has Lightfoot failed Chicago.”
“Really, we’re just trying to make a statement that Mayor Lightfoot hasn’t been here for the communities,” the Rev. Marcus Guerra said before the rally began, around 6:30 p.m.
They marched from the Logan Square monument to the intersection of Kimball and Wrightwood avenues, near the mayor’s house, chanting and occasionally hurling expletives at the mayor or police.
They gathered as speakers raised a range of issues, including concerns about the level of funding Chicago police receive, Lightfoot’s handling of downtown protests over the summer and civilian oversight proposals for the Chicago Police Department.
Some advocated for an elected school board, which Lightfoot supported during her campaign but has since shifted her stance on, and other education issues.
Others highlighted environmental concerns, like efforts to locate a scrap shredder in a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood on Chicago’s Southeast Side
“What is the city’s agenda?” asked activist Oscar Sanchez. “Because if they wanted to, they would. If they wanted to prioritize education, they would, not another juvenile detention center. If they wanted to prioritize mental health, they would, not the corrupt system we know as the Chicago Police Department.”
Before the march, Carla Langston said the mayor had been a big disappointment, especially to Black women.
“She definitely has gone back on campaign promises,” Langston, 56, said. “And it’s one thing to go back on those promises, but she’s actually continued on with things we’re tired of from previous administrations.”
Langston questioned the transparency surrounding the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in March and the botched raid on the home of Anjanette Young, who was handcuffed naked after police executed a search warrant at the wrong address. She also said she felt the mayor had come down hard on teachers.
Lightfoot and the Chicago Teachers Union have clashed repeatedly. In October 2019, teachers and support staff walked off the job after months of negotiations failed to result in new contracts with both unions. The mayor and Chicago Public Schools again fought with the CTU over reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bessie Tsitsopoulos, a social worker at Vaughn Occupational High School, said she wanted to send a message to the mayor about how she felt Lightfoot had been doing in office.
Tsitsopoulos, 63, wearing a sign around her neck and a CTU mask, said she was advocating in particular for an elected school board. She said she believed too much money was going to the Chicago Police Department and not enough to Black and brown communities.
“She hasn’t supported our students, our families, with their economic needs,” she said.
The march ended around 8 p.m. near Kimball and Wrightwood avenues. As of 9 p.m., Chicago police reported no arrests.