Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/author/curtis-black/page/2/)
Curtis is an opinion writer for The Chicago Reporter.
A lawsuit became necessary after Mayor Lori Lightfoot failed to back an ordinance on the immediate right to legal counsel in police custody, a measure called for by her Police Accountability Task Force four years ago, advocates say.
Restorative justice programs have already proven effective at Chicago Public Schools, but lack the level of funding budgeted for the district’s contract with the Chicago Police Department.
The Chicago Black Panther Party, Rainbow Coalition, the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement and other historical organizing projects point to the possibilities for harnessing the vast mobilization of outrage we’re seeing today.
George Floyd’s horrifying death at the hands of Minneapolis police underscores the urgent need to continue working towards reforms outlined in the consent decree at the Chicago Police Department.
To make rent cancellation work, legislators want to maximize a fund for landlords to recoup lost rental income while waiting for federal action.
A new coalition in East Garfield Park is aiming to head off displacement, gentrification and a land grab by speculators by protecting affordable housing and heeding the lessons of 2008.
A recent Chicago Tribune investigation relies on incomplete data and cherry-picked anecdotes to attack the work of the Chicago Community Bond Fund and The Bail Project.
As residents wait on rent and mortgage relief on the state and federal levels, Chicago officials are using costly hotel rooms instead of vacant public housing units to shelter the homeless.
Locals hope that the next round of Paycheck Protection Program loans won’t prioritize large, publicly-traded corporations over the hardest hit small businesses.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has taken some steps to protect the payments, but more could be done to block payday lenders, consumer installment lenders, and debt collectors from taking CARES Act funds needed by families.