As the November national mid-term and the Chicago mayoral elections were quickly approaching, we interviewed individuals from the group Chicago Women Take Action (CWTA). This organization is doing the necessary and urgent work of educating residents on the important issues and helping them to develop an understanding of why voting in this election is more important than ever before. CWTA was formed and is run by women of all ages, including founder and Co-chair Marilyn Katz. CTWA is committed to fighting for the economic and social equality of women. The Issues the organization addresses include gun violence, reproductive rights, protecting democracy, income inequality/equal wages, voting rights, minimum wage increases and fair employment conditions. At the forefront of CWTA’s work is making efforts to be sure people aren’t squandering their ability to vote. They want voters to be informed enough to choose candidates who represent their beliefs. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, a State Coordinator for the activism group “Indivisble” explains what their work is about:
“It’s so crazy when you see people tweeting ‘look at all these crazy protestors…what are they doing on the street and just yelling for nothing?’ If we ask them if they themselves know anything about their own history; if they understand why they’reworking today, or if they understand why they’re able to vote today, their answers tell us why we have to make clear to voters what the issues are and why we have to keep fighting for what is right.”
Hoppenworth got her start in politics in 2016 after realizing she wanted to affect change herself. She’s already been able to accomplish amazing things alongside “Indivisble" and CWTA. She was a huge part of the “Women’s March on Washington” and even got 10,000 people from Illinois to accompany her! Betty Magness is another person who worked on the committee for the marches in both Washington and Chicago. She explained:
“CWTA, is a very proactive group in terms of fighting for women’s rights and other work-related issues. I think CWTA is a big portion of why Chicago had hundreds of thousands of women at the women’s march in Washington.”
Magness is on the Electoral Committee for CWTA. She is the Vice Chair of Independent workers of Illinois , an independent precinct organization. She is the Illinois Political Director for Rainbow Push. She also serves on the Policy Act Committee for Citizen Action Illinois.
CWTA’s agenda for educating people about political guidelines started when Magness discovered what was happening when people were upset after the 2016 election. Turns out they were sending letters to their State Congressional Representatives instead of to their State Senators.
“We decided it was necessary to come up with an electoral committee. At our meetings we explain about the different offices and who’s responsible for what.”
CWTA usually holds meetings the third Monday of every month. On August 20, Jill Wine Banks, who served under President Jimmy Carter as the first woman to become US General Counsel of the Army, spoke to the group. In September, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will speak as part of the group’s continuing effort to get people out to vote.
According to founder Marilyn Katz who is also an
Immigration and civil rights lawyer:
"We had great speakers at our last month’s meeting. We talked about the Trump policies that were separating children from their parents and putting them in cages. Those are the kind of issues we have at our monthly meetings.”
Katz points out that the shock of Trump’s election brought about a marked change:
“People don’t want to take this election lying down. The fact that only 36 percent of us vote, we’re killing ourselves! We’re killing our water, we’re killing our land, we’re killing our kids!”.
It seems there is little to no knowledge reaching voters in their own areas about what is actually going on in the world out there. For example, there are 500 women running for office across the country who are winning. There’s also the fact that Stacey Abrams is in line to become the first African American female governor. There is news out there but somehow it’s not getting to people in a way that registers. The women in all these groups are making a major effort to make sure those facts are reaching women in the communities where they live. Betty Magness added:
“You have to keep the momentum going. I watched this TV Special from the students at the Parkland, Florida high school. It was awesome! If we don’t get on their bandwagon they’re going to leave us behind because they are on point. Everywhere they go they’re not taking no for an answer. They’re not saying vote Republican, they’re not saying vote Democrat, they’re not saying vote Libertarian. They’re going to change the paradigm because they’re reaching their audience by boldly saying: “Register and vote! Your vote counts!”
Giving young people the incentive to vote also comes with a responsibility to give them a reason to vote. They need to be made aware of issues that directly affect them such as what’s happening in the communities where they’ve grown up and about issues that directly affect them such as student-loan debt. Magness pointed out some of Trump’s false claims:
‘The African American community is doing better than it’s ever done before. They’ve all got jobs. Unemployment in the African American neighborhood is 24 percent maybe up to 30. It’s 60 percent for youth.’
She described a community meeting where the discussion was about what can be done to solve the problem of continuing neighborhood violence. They want to make voters aware of major issues such as jobs, education and a fair wage enabling them to live comfortably. Bringing these issues into the hearts and minds of their individual communities is what these women’s groups are working on.
As the election draws closer, Magness encourages voters to call 866-Our-Vote because people who are registered to vote have been getting purged off the rolls because of a program called Cross Check. The reasons given for removing voters names turns out to be for such things as having the same or a similar name as someone else. Magness stresses the point that:
“The midterm elections are important because the people who are elected in November will be the people who will draw the lines for the 2020 election. It’s crucial in the sense that it’s not what party you should vote for. It’s that you’re going to vote for someone who stands up for our values and for what we believe in.”
The end goal for CWTA in the November elections is to let people know that voting is the power they have to elect people to office who will push for a more progressive Illinois. Before the election took place Lena Manaa Hoppenworth summed it up this way:
“The reason we’re going to lose, if we do lose, is because of ignorance.”
The election was Blue! All the way in Chicago! With much appreciation due to these Chicago Women in Action!
Creative credits
- Written by
- Jasmine Smith
- Photography
- Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth
