Emma Tai is the executive director of United Working Families in Chicago.
Brandon Johnson was inaugurated as Chicago mayor today. What makes the Chicago working-class movement that elected him so remarkable is its willingness to wage audacious fights over protecting and expanding public goods that seem unwinnable.
At a time of austerity and teacher demonization, Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis — whose death at age sixty-seven was announced today — dared to believe that educators and the working class as a whole could fight back and win.