Looking Back on 2020
A year in review
Hey folks,
It’s been a year. A rapidly accelerating climate crisis; a global pandemic; an economic recession; concentration camps at our country’s border; and the continued killing of Black people at the hands of police. In Chicago alone we’ve seen Lori Lightfoot and city leadership back cops over communities and brutalize protestors with excessive force and weapons of war, we’ve seen air pollution increases and toxic waste threaten working class Black and brown communities, and we’ve endured continued corruption from Mike Madigan and others in power. It’s been a dark year, one full of pain, loss, and suffering.
It’s also been a year of organizing. Of mass mobilization, from our generation and generations above. Across the globe we’ve seen young people stand up for our futures and demand action on the climate crisis. Across the country we’ve seen progressives winning in local elections, champions like Marie Newman and Robert Peters who we know will fight for us to not only survive, but thrive. We got the Green New Deal endorsed by 16 democratic candidates in the presidential primary, put climate on the map of presidential debates and platforms, and pushed Joe Biden to adopt the most progressive climate change legislation of any presidential candidate in U.S. history.
This year, we saw a mass uprising, in our city and across the country, of tens of millions of people turning anger and injustice into action, demanding an end to racism and white supremacy, and making up the largest movement in US history. We took to the streets to demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others. We rallied around calls to get cops out of schools, to defund CPD, to abolish the police and reimagine public safety.
For Sunrise Chicago, 2020 was a year of growth and action. We endorsed four local candidates in the primaries and conducted 13 in-person canvasses and 12 virtual phone banks with over 160 individual participants. When the pandemic hit, we took our organizing online, and with over 1,000 participants at our virtual actions we called our senators and local representatives and applied public pressure for initiatives like Democratize ComEd and the People’s Bailout. We hosted a virtual day of action for Earth Day in March, raising up banners throughout the city and calling for environmental justice alongside partners like Chicago DSA, Warehouse Workers for Justice, Grassroots Collaborative, and many more. We held multiple virtual training programs for BIPOC organizers across the Midwest, building community with 75 participants. We hosted a fundraiser to support the mutual-aid work of our partners at GoodKids MadCity, International Indigienous Youth Council, and the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, and we gained over 500 new members, growing our hub and our power. We protested at the Speaker of the Illinois House Leader Michael Madigan’s home to stand up against corruption in IL politics, as well at former mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home to ensure he wouldn’t get a spot in Biden’s cabinet.
Together we have organized, fought, celebrated, mourned, rested, and dreamed. And in just 20 days, Biden will be president and the Trump administration will officially be history. It’s a big win, but we know that the fight isn’t over, and there is much to do in 2021. We need to keep up the pressure, to hold Biden accountable and ensure that his administration passes comprehensive climate justice legislation immediately, invests in good paying jobs that will nurture our economy while paving the way for a livable future, and provides real economic relief for communities hit hardest by COVID. We need to continue the long-term fight to defund the police in Chicago, work in coalition spaces to pursue a local Green New Deal, and fight white supremacy and environmental racism.
One of the ways we plan on tackling these large and lofty goals is by bringing in at least two full time fellows to the Chicago hub this Spring. We are an entirely volunteer run hub, made up of everyone from high-school students to young working folks, united with a common goal. Our fellowship program allows a few organizers to do Sunrise full time, as they work to build political power and expand the capacity of the hub. We need your help to make this fellowship happen, so please donate here if you can, and share the fundraising link with your network. And if you’re ready to be part of this fight, join us on slack, request a one-on-one with a current member to learn more about the hub or sign-up for a sunrise 101 training.
If this year has taught us anything, it is that despite everything that stands in our way, our generation is powerful and resilient. As the sun sets on 2020 and rises on 2021, we know that this will be the decade of the Green New Deal. The moment for our movement is now.
In solidarity,
Sunrise Chicago
