Dear friend,
Yesterday, the people of Chicago ousted Anita Alvarez from her seat as State’s Attorney,1 ending nearly a decade of corruption and over-prosecution in our communities. As Chicago’s lead prosecutor, Alvarez covered up police shootings; she over-charged thousands of youth, some as young as 10 years old; and she failed to prosecute corrupt cops for their misconduct. She held the video that showed Laquan McDonald's killing for over a year and ruined the case against the officer who killed Rekia Boyd.
We applaud the endless work of grassroots organizers who led the efforts that culminated in tonight's victory.Black organizing groups have lead the way in galvanizing the community in opposition to Alvarez. Black youth organizers from Black Youth Project 100, Assata's Daughters, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Fearless Leading by the Youth and more taught a master class with a blend of cultural, electoral and direct action tactics that built momentum and brought attention to the race.
We are also blown away by the work of groups like SOUL Chicago, The Workers Center for Racial Justice, Center for Racial & Gender Equity, Action Now, Chicago Votes Action Fund, United Working Families, The People's Lobby, and Reclaim Chicago to engage hundreds of thousands of voters who overwhelming chose to hold Anita Alvarez responsible.
We are proud to have supported the organizers in Chicago. Thank you to the tens of thousands of ColorOfChange members who took action to push Anita Alvarez out of office.
In December, we worked with partners from MoveOn.org, Credo Action, Democracy for America, and others to deliver over 200,000 petition signatures demanding Alvarez, and Mayor Emanuel's resignations for covering up the killing of Laquan McDonald.
In the days leading up to this election, thousands of ColorOfChange activists helped to get the word out using ByeAnita.com to drive the conversation on social media. Over 900 people used the platform to volunteer to call Chicago voters. They were joined by the members of other national organizations including National People’s Action, MoveOn.org and Democracy for America to form an unprecedented coalition focused on prosecutorial accountability.
Yesterday was a vital win for a growing movement to hold prosecutors accountable. Prosecutors are some of the most powerful people in our broken criminal justice system and we can no longer allow them to harm our communities without consequence. We are using a variety of strategies, from electoral to policy reform, to hold prosecutors accountable in communities across the country but we can only do it with your continued support. Can you make a contribution to help fund our campaign for prosecutorial accountability?
Together we can create the kind of lasting change that achieves real justice for Laquan, Rekia, and so many more.
Thank you,
Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Johnny, Enchanta and the ColorOfChange team.
References:
1. "Black Lives Matter Notches Major Win in Chicago Race" Huffington Post, 3.13.16 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5988?t=4&akid=5526.1942551.1p7Uj3
ColorOfChange is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.
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