What do we deserve from
our government, Chicago?
We love Chicago. We love our people, our neighborhoods, and our diverse mix of cultures. What we don't love is a government known for pitting our communities against each other. We don't love that the result is a city where the color of our skin often predicts what kind of life we can live.
But it doesn't have to be like this.
Join us in a campaign to reimagine Chicago to be a city built to serve all of us. Tell us your ideas to transform our government. Vote with us on which ideas should guide the next mayor. Then stick with us as we report back on where each candidate stands on your priorities. Let's get ready to build a new Chicago Way, together.
let's get ready to
vote for racial equity
step 1:
share your ideas.
step 2:
vote on reform ideas.
chicagoans submitted
Over 200 ideas by dec. 7th!
join neighbors at 'vote equity parties' at homes, schools, and organizations to cast your ballot.
step 3: see what
candidates think.
chicago's voter guide for racial equity is published.
Campaign background
The Vote Equity Project is part of a broader campaign to Reimagine Chicago. We are proud to partner with a diverse group of organizations with a deep commitment to racial equity, including Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Grassroots Collaborative, Generation All, Metropolitan Planning Council, and UIC's Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement, among others.
The goals of this work are to:
-
Inspire residents to imagine an equitable future for Chicago.
-
Support Chicagoans in being informed and engaged voters, guided by a vision for racial equity.
-
Engage candidates in defining their positions on specific racial equity policies and structural reforms.
how will the project work?
The ideas that you submit for government reforms will join a list of policy ideas assembled by over 100 grassroots organizing groups, who are closest to the inequities that our communities are facing. Together, the list of ideas -- both on what our government should do and how our government should function -- will create the Racial Equity Ballot.
This ballot will be voted on by Chicagoans across all of our neighborhoods, both online and in-person. As one part of this campaign, CUE will be hosting a series of "Vote Equity" parties for Chicagoans to meet, share how inequity has impacted their lives, and discuss to make our city more just, equitable, and inclusive. At the end of these discussions, Chicagoans will vote on their favorite ideas to build a Chicago for all of us. The leading ideas from this citywide vote will ultimately become one platform, called the People's Agenda for Racial Equity.
Finally, we will ask candidates to state their positions these winning ideas and publish them in a nonpartisan Voter Guide for Racial Equity in early February 2019.