48th Ward Neighbors for Justice: Frequently Asked Questions

How did 48th Ward Neighbors for Justice start?

48th Ward Neighbors for Justice started in summer 2019 as a group of neighbors stymied by Alderman Harry Osterman’s lack of commitment or opposition to important issues, such as #NoCopAcademy (the campaign to stop a $95 million police academy from being built on the West Side), the call for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (an ordinance that would grant community control of CPD through a democratically elected board), and affordable housing growth in the Ward. During 2020 the IPO officially launched and has since worked on a number of advocacy, electoral, and civic campaigns.. 

What does this organization do?

48th Ward Neighbors for Justice is an independent political organization that organizes residents around shared goals and builds community within our ward boundaries through direct actions, issue-based campaigns, and electoral organizing. We aim to create a space where our neighbors feel comfortable advocating for specific causes that impact them. We are imagining a new world together, one that values trust and caring over cruelty, and people over profits. 

What’s an IPO?

An independent political organization (IPO) is a political action committee. IPOs exist to build political power independent of elected officials. IPOs are a unique Chicago mechanism that can bring people together for issues-based and electoral campaigns, and seek to meet the material needs of their neighbors. Other IPOs include 33rd Ward Working Families, United Neighbors 35th Ward, and Northside Action for Justice.

How do you get work done?

48th Ward Neighbors for Justice is composed of general membership and a steering committee. Members work in working groups that meet as needed, to advance work in response to the needs of our community. Our steering committee is composed of up to nine elected individuals who make sure that the organization is healthy and functioning, that our work stays on track with our larger mission, and that goals are being met. 

How does 48th Ward Neighbors for Justice commit to multiracial organizing and work that represents all the residents of the ward? 

We know that building power and organizing for justice cannot happen in this ward, or anywhere, without deep multiracial solidarity, and we are uninterested in visions for the ward that center only White interests and White people. On an organizational level, this looks like building connections and trust with multiracial organizations across the ward and city, following the lead and amplifying the demands of communities most affected by the issues we work on, and committing to an anti-racist culture within 48th WN4J. We are not interested in tokenizing or instrumentalizing our neighbors of color to meet diversity quotas; we are invested in building solidarity and dismantling racism.

Who else has been organizing in the 48th Ward?

Historically, read about the the Young Patriots, an organization of poor Whites in Uptown/Edgewater who allied with the Black Panthers and the Young Lords to form the Rainbow Coalition in 1969. Adding many other activist, ethnic, and socialist groups, this coalition made advances in opposing violence from both the police and street gangs, and threatened the White supremacist political machine that continues today.

Presently, there are organizations active in the ward that we share some goals with, such as Edgewater Mutual Aid, ONE Northside, Northside Tenants Network, Northside Action for Justice, Edgewater Environmental Sustainability Project, Anti-Racist Andersonville, Indivisible Edgewater, Chicago DSA Northside Branch, and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). Of course, many unions have members in the ward.

What is your relationship with the Alderwoman and the Mayor?

We want elected representatives that represent our shared mission statement and interests while maintaining our relationship with elected officials of all levels. Our organization seeks mutually beneficial partnerships in government to advance our mission and put power back in the hands of all of our neighbors. We were happy to endorse Mayor Johnson in 2023 and to recommend Alderwoman Manaa-Hoppenworth in the run-off that year, but members will ultimately have the final say in what we do in 2027.