Zoning and Land Use are key tools in maintaining, or changing, the character of Chicago's neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, these processes are intentionally difficult for the average person to understand. This gives developers and other wealthy insiders an advantage over working-class communities, who are too often locked out of decisions about the future of their own neighborhoods.

In order to win the future we want to see, we must familiarize ourselves with how Zoning and Land Use decisions are made and how we can engage with those processes in the fight against gentrification and neoliberalism.

On May 18, 33rd Ward Working Families spoke to Ramsin Canon as part of our community political education series. Ramsin is a lawyer specializing in Land Use and Zoning and is the former Political Education Coordinator of the Chicago chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and is on Twitter at @ramsincanon.