By Destiny Spruill and Jacob Buckner

Chicago, IL – Two factors have made public safety a lynchpin issue in the upcoming mayoral election between Brandon Johnson, former teacher supported by the Chicago Teacher’s Union, and Paul Vallas, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, backed by the Fraternal Order of the Police (FOP). First is the rise in the crime rate in the city in recent years. The second, and principal, reason is the law-and-order backlash that followed the historic protests of the George Floyd Rebellion.

Chicago, IL – On April 4, Chicago faces its most crucial mayoral election since Harold Washington ran in 1983. Brandon Johnson, Cook County commissioner, union organizer, and former public school teacher, won enough votes in the February 28 primary to move into the runoff election against Paul Vallas, an administrator with a record of privatizing school systems in Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Bridgeport. Unions, community organizations and other progressive groups have formed a coalition behind Brandon Johnson to ensure better working, living and organizing conditions for the next four years.

Chicago, IL – On Thursday, March 30 Brandon Johnson and Bernie Sanders held a joint “Chicago for All of Us” rally at the Credit Union 1 Arena, drawing a crowd of more than 4000 supporters. The event comes after Sanders’ endorsement of Johnson for the April 4 mayoral runoff election. The event included speeches from Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa; Representatives Jonathan Jackson and Delia Ramirez; president of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten; Martin Luther King III, and Senator Bernie Sanders.

Chicago, IL – Brandon Johnson’s campaign for mayor of Chicago held an event at Saint James Community Church on Chicago’s South Side on Thursday, March 16. The event was organized by United Working Families, a movement group behind Johnson.

Chicago, IL – After celebrating their victories in the Chicago municipal elections on February 28, 36 of the 66 newly elected Police District Councilors voiced their support of the Brandon Johnson mayoral campaign. At a press conference with Johnson outside City Hall on Monday, March 13, many councilors explained why they would rather work under a Johnson administration than a Vallas one.

Chicago, IL – On March 15, protesters rallied at the University of Illinois at Chicago to commemorate International Women’s Month. Over a dozen students and activists listened to speakers from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Students for a Democratic Society. Speakers denounced both the recent attacks on women’s and reproductive rights nationwide, and rampant sexual violence on college campuses.

Chicago, IL – Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held its annual International Working Women's Day celebration on Sunday, March 5. The program honored the women's liberation movement, as well as the women leading working-class struggles and fights for national liberation in the U.S., Palestine and the Philippines, among other places.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Executive Director Frank Chapman of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, on the results of the Police District Council elections in Chicago.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Transit Authority fired trans bus operator and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 member Russia T. Brown for waging a struggle for his right to healthcare while refusing to address rampant transphobia that culminated in death threats.

Chicago, IL – 300 Chicagoans braced against the cold night, January 30, to protest the brutal police slayings of Tyre Nichols, Keenan Anderson and Manuel “Tortuguita” Teron. The eight-degree weather did not deter the crowd as they clustered together to stand in solidarity with protests that have broken out across the country in the wake of the release of the video footage that depicted multiple officers beating Nichols to death.