This week, Cook County became the first county in the nation to shut down its gang database--a tool that has long been used to criminalize low-income communities of color.
Working with bold organizations like Organized Communities Against Deportation (OCAD) and the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council from the Erase the Database campaign, we led the charge to not only take the database offline but to set up guidelines for the destruction of its contents. Cook County will be first county in the country to hold public hearings on the long-term impact of the database: how people were placed on it, how law enforcement used it, and how to ensure that Cook County data is not used by other agencies in the future.
As part of the United Working Families Elected Official Chapter, we'll be sharing our experiences with our sisters and brothers on City Council and in the state legislature to advance a united front in the fight against policies that starve Black and Latinx communities of the opportunity to thrive.
Please join us in sharing the press coverage of this victory on Facebook and Twitter, and in thanking the fierce organizations whose leadership made this possible:
Action Now, AFSC Chicago, Arab American Action Network, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, Autonomous Tenants Union, Black Lives Matter: Chicago, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Chicago Community and Workers' Rights, Chicago Community Bond Fund, Chicago Teachers Union, Enlace Chicago, Grassroots Collaborative, HANA Center, Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, ICIRR, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Latino Union of Chicago, National Immigrant Justice Center, OCAD, PASO, SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, and SOUL.
In Solidarity,
Cook County Commissioner Alma Anaya (Chief Sponsor, Cook County Ordinance #19-0687)
Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson
Commissioner Alma Anaya speaking at a press conference to #ErasetheDatabase. Commissioner Anaya introduced the ordinance to stop the gang database in her first month in office. Picture from the Chicago Sun-Times.
P.S. As elected officials who come from the rank-and-file of organizations like OCAD and the Chicago Teachers Union, we're committed to building the bench of candidates, campaigners, and organizers who come from social movements. Join us! Consider making a $10, $25, or $50 donation to sponsor a UWF Movement Leader Fellow in the 2019 elections.
