Our Values & Mission

Agents of Change: We fight for neighborhoods for the many, and believe that it is the many who have the power. We believe that our power comes from working class people acting together, on our own behalf, and in large numbers.

Solidarity & Unity in Struggle: We believe our movement is strongest when it takes all those different kinds of action, and when they support each other, like when electeds on picket lines support striking workers, and workers support independent politics as a union. We trust that as we have turned out for others in their struggles, they will join us in ours because defending and advancing each other raises all boats in Chicago’s political ecosystem. We see electing organizers from the movement as one method of acting together and our key strategy. 

Contradictions are ok, Experiments are great: We see our political action as coordinating and collaborating between movements, and building their power in the political sphere. We take an experimental approach to this political action, and try to learn lessons from both our mistakes and successes. 

Accessibility and Inclusivity: We are building a society that is accessible and cares for everyone, such as the disabled, unhoused, immigrant and undocumented in our communities.

Public Structures of Care: Basic human needs cannot be met by the free market and are the responsibility/purpose of the government. All people deserve access to medical and mental health treatment, safe and public housing, guaranteed income/living wage, food security and bodily autonomy.

Culture of Care: In the absence of public structures of care, it is necessary to build our own parallel structures of care. Throughout the global pandemic and other crises we have mobilized to keep each other safe through masking and hybrid meetings, converting our office to a food pantry to serve neighbors, collaborating with other organizations to welcome and serve the influx of asylum seekers. 

Solidarity: We show up for our neighbors.  When families need court support, or marchers at a protest, or signature gatherers for a community cause, we turn up! 

Community: Relationships exist across neighborhoods, identities, places of origin, and politics. We recognize our place in community exists on multiple scales, from hyper local, the city, and on the global scale. We strive to bridge these communities to highlight our common goals and enemies, without downplaying what makes each community unique and stronger together. 

Co-Governance: We believe in full, democratic participation for all our neighbors, regardless of status or documentation. We advocate for all our neighbors, recent and old, to have full access to resources, safety, and justice.

Anticapitalism: Being anticapitalist in a capitalist society for us translates into actively critiquing and challenging the structures that prioritize profit over people while advocating for alternatives big and small through collective action as well as policy advocacy through elected officials.   

Liberation: Our collective liberation is bound together and our pursuit of freedom is inclusive and intersectional. Working toward collective liberation must be an act of co-creation between all people inclusive of all abilities, genders, race, sexualities and socio-economic class. Further, we strive to act in coalition with organized labor as well as other movements and campaigns that seek to liberate.   

Self-Determination: Self-Determination for Chicagoans is about creating a city where everyone has the opportunity to shape their own future and the future of their community. This means control over local resources, policies and development, creating economic opportunities that are not dependent on corporations, democratic political representation, cultural preservation and equitable access to housing, healthcare and education.

Comradeship: We treat one another as comrades working together toward shared goals. As comrades, we strive to know one another and treat each other in ways that celebrate the importance and dignity of each person.

Accountability: We do what we say we will do and take accountability when we fall short of these values. We address harm within our community, but we do not abandon or persecute those who make mistakes or cause harm. We change behaviors and repair relationships whenever possible.

We believe in the need for an elected school board in Chicago. As one of the only districts in Illinois without democratic control of the school board, our current system of mayoral control is a significant impediment to achieving the fully funded neighborhood schools that students and parents deserve. We oppose opening new charter schools and strongly support the rights of teachers and staff at existing charter schools to organize with the Chicago Teachers Union and, when necessary, strike for fairer contracts. We stand in solidarity with the educators, students, and activists calling for #PoliceFreeSchools and we oppose any relationship between the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Public Schools. 

We believe that housing is a human right, not a commodity. For this reason, 33rd Ward Working Families calls for housing to be brought under the control of the people who actually live in it. We stand in solidarity with tenant unions organizing collectively for their rights, and call for greater protection for tenants through legislation and eviction court reforms. We call for greater regulations on the real estate industry, including rent control, community control over zoning, and stricter affordability requirements. We call for more investment in public housing to better maintain existing units and greatly increase the rate of new construction. 

We believe that everyone deserves safety, and that is best accomplished through a comprehensive vision of community safety that does not rely on police or ICE. We believe in defunding the police and directing that money into community supports, including public mental health services, restorative justice courts and practices in schools, violence interrupter programs, and fully funded social programs. We support ending the gang database and enacting the Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC).

We stand in solidarity with the movement for Black lives. We call for an immediate end to the racist terror inflicted upon communities of color, especially Black people, by the CPD. But beyond the CPD, no city agency or policy area is exempt from this charge. Any conversation about justice for the generations of violence inflicted upon Chicago’s Black and Brown communities must center around a policy of significant, broad, and ongoing reparations from the City of Chicago in all of the policy areas where institutionalized racism has been a central tenet of city policy—that is to say, all policy areas, including but not limited to: housing and development, education, transportation, the environment, public safety, and other city services.

33rd Ward Working Families believes in the full, democratic participation, safety, and wellbeing of all ward residents regardless of status or documentation. We work closely with deportation defense networks, and have organized ICE watch trainings and neighborhood safety brigades to protect immigrant neighbors. We believe that ICE should be abolished, and we work closely with other organizations that advocate for ending the deportation and detention of immigrants. We advocate for all immigrants to have full access to resources, safety, and justice. 

We believe in the right of every ward resident to have a direct say in decisions that affect them and their community. We supported the establishment of participatory budgeting and community-driven zoning and development processes enacted by Ald. Rodriguez's office in 2019, ensuring as many ward residents have their voices heard as possible. We support measures to ensure that non-English-speaking residents are included at every level in the decision-making process. Finally, we offer our storefront office as an accessible space to support community organizing efforts. 

We believe that responding to our current climate disaster requires moving away from market solutions and thinking expansively about how ecological degradation is closely tied to nearly all social and political issues. We know that low-income communities of color—and particularly Black and Indigenous communities—are disproportionately harmed by climate change and extractive and polluting industries. Our efforts to combat it must include leadership by these communities at every stage. 

We believe in a $15 minimum wage and all workers' right to a union. We believe in protecting worker pensions and demand that the wealthy and corporations of this city pay their fair share. We have championed legislation like the Fair Workweek Ordinance, and we believe in strengthening protections for workers. We strongly support the development of worker-owned enterprises and policy solutions that can help these businesses flourish in our city.

(Updated August 2020)