Sanctuary and the Neoliberal City
While elected officials plead scarcity, communities create and share means of collective survival with newly arriving asylum seekers in Chicago.
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The Colonial Origins of the UChicago Police
Modern policing has its origin in colonial violence. The University of Chicago has long played a part in cultivating, promoting, spreading, and normalizing the tools of such state violence.
The Left under Brandon Johnson: Accommodation or Struggle?
Brandon Johnson’s meteoric rise to the mayor’s office inaugurates a new political period for Chicago. Winning necessary reforms going forward will require independent organizing and confrontation with the rich.
Chicago Has Plenty of Room for Refugees
Both the Texas governor and Chicago’s outgoing mayor are framing refugees as a burden. But Chicago has the material resources and supports to welcome refugees if only officials would muster the political will.
Palestinian Students Face Discrimination at UIC
Administrators at UIC have been implicated in a series of racist incidents aimed to limit free speech and political activism. Students for Justice in Palestine at UIC are demanding accountability.
Growing Solidarity in Weelaunee
The radical community being built and defended at the Weelaunee forest occupation is opening up new worlds. #StopCopCity is a lesson in solidarity as risk and responsibility.
Paul Vallas and the Myth of the Competent White Man
Paul Vallas's record is utterly disastrous. Why do political figures and mainstream press seem to be united in whitewashing it?
Why We Must Stop Cop City
Forest protectors in Atlanta are resisting the construction of “cop city” and the centuries of colonial violence it represents. In their struggle, all of our futures hang in the balance.
Anatomy of a Class War: Chicago’s 2023 Elections
Chicago’s municipal elections are being fiercely contested by the business class and working people. If we hope to come out of this election stronger, we’ll need political clarity on the police, the machine, and our side’s source of power.
The Political Agenda of African American Studies
Conservatives like DeSantis can tolerate some Black history courses, but they fear an education that links struggles of the past with antiracist struggles today. That’s why they attacked the political agenda of African American Studies, and why it must be defended.
“We can no longer just survive” Oscar Sanchez and the 10th Ward
Former hunger striker and aldermanic candidate Oscar Sanchez talks about building sustainable futures, violence de-escalation, and facilitating community involvement on the Southeast Side.
On Palestine and Local Elections
Like others before him, aldermanic hopeful Mueze Bawany has come under attack by those seeking to discredit the Palestine solidarity movement. As Israel escalates its violent occupation, our side has to reject the false frameworks of the liberal establishment, even in Chicago’s municipal elections.
“Schools are the heartbeat of every neighborhood”
In the aldermanic race for Chicago’s 50th Ward, Mueze Bawany lays out his vision for a community built around belonging, organizing, and a future for youth.
Busting Down the Door for the Southwest Side
Aldermanic candidate Victoria "Vicko" Alvarez aims to put the community in charge of governing Chicago’s southwest side 15th ward. But as a socialist, Alvarez hasn’t lost sight of the need to restructure the larger systems that disenfranchised us in the first place.
From Atlanta to Chicago, Cop Cities Breed Violence
In the wake of the police murder of a forest defender in Atlanta, Chicago leaders just unveiled the completed “cop academy.” These cop cities are training grounds for police violence and must be dismantled to restore a world where life is precious.
Revolution Means Smashing the State
Revolution, or the need to smash the capitalist state, has been dismissed and avoided by many who claim to want a liberated world. But any responsible approach to overcoming capitalism must grapple with the need to dismantle the capitalist state and replace it with our own democratic institutions from below.
“Straight-up Scrooge Behavior” at Howard Brown
Despite their progressive branding, Howard Brown Health's labor practices and union busting layoffs show how thin their commitment to caring for the LGBTQ community is. This week, unionized healthcare workers are going on strike to fight back.
The Spirit of the Union at the Field Museum
Workers at the Field Museum are building community, camaraderie, and power by organizing a union. Several workers share their stories and why they are joining the cultural worker unionization wave.
Who Killed the Railroad Workers Strike?
Railroad workers fought hard for their well-deserved rights, and rejected a garbage contract from their bosses. Then Democrats in Congress, including AOC and almost the whole Squad, voted to force through the bosses’ contract offer and block the mounting strike.
Yes We Do Mean Smash the State: In Defense of Revolution
Capitalism relies on states to create profits, guarantee the functioning of markets, and cheapen labor through violence. Overthrowing capitalism will mean confronting and dismantling prisons, policing, borders, and the military. It’s time we talk about smashing the state.
Settler Colonialism in Chicago: A Living Atlas
The city of Chicago was built upon the settler colonial dispossession of Indigenous peoples and lands. That history of conflict, violence, and struggle continues into the present.
Union Victory at Howard Brown Health
After years of understaffing and poor compensation during multiple pandemics, strike-ready nurses at Howard Brown Health just won a huge victory. Howard Brown workers discuss their campaign and the significance of their struggle.
We Demand a Cop Free AFSCME
A network of rank-and-file workers describe their campaign to rid their trade union of cops and prison guards.
No Peaceful Mass in the Anti-Abortion Church
Two Chicago activists who recently disrupted a Catholic Mass explain why defending reproductive rights requires going on the offensive.