United Working Families

Along with many thousands of others across the city and country, we are both celebrating the life and mourning the passing of our dear sister, United Working Families co-founder Amisha Patel.

Amisha’s tenacity and vision could only be matched by her kindness and care. Her deep love of our people by her fierce hatred of injustice. She died last Friday as she lived; surrounded by love, laughter and song, and with a specific set of instructions for all of us who have been a part of the powerful movement that we have built together: we have come too far to turn back now.

Amisha’s brilliance was in her curiosity, in her constant desire to learn. Fifteen years ago she saw what so many had failed to notice, as obvious as it seems now. Corporations and the wealthy had unlimited resources to bend politics to their will. Working people, those whose livelihoods and existence in this city were and are under attack from wealthy elites, needed to build something for us. A “political home” for Chicago’s multi-racial working class. An electoral expression of our city’s vibrant and powerful justice movements.

So in 2011 she founded Grassroots Illinois Action, working across neighborhoods to build independent political power, including a Humboldt Park chapter that counted as one of its key leaders a young organizer named Delia Ramirez. And in 2014, understanding the scale of both political challenge and necessity, Amisha and GIA were one of the founding organizations of UWF. Ten years later, she was helping to run the transition team for UWF member, former Chicago middle school teacher, and current Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Our victories have been enormous, and they are incomplete. There are days the challenges in front of us can seem overwhelming, our opposition too powerful. But as Amisha reminds us, “What we need are possibilities, not certainty. … we also cannot be afraid to move, even in times of turbulence and unpredictability. In fact, moving in such moments is even more critical.” Our hearts are heavy today, but our lives have more joy, more hope and more possibility because of Amisha.

See you tonight (taco truck!) and tomorrow for Convention!

We were at last week for our final regional meeting in preparation for our Convention on April 17th & 18th! We took stock of the Illinois primaries and the fight to tax the rich at the state level, and built shared analysis of what it will take to defend and expand political power for our communities.

We're one week out from our membership convention!

RSVP: bit.ly/uwf26convention (link in bio!)
You can become a member here ➡️ bit.ly/uwfdonate

Together we can stop the billionaires and their war on the rest of us. But it's going to take a mass movement that refuses business as usual in the face of an anti-worker, pro-poverty agenda.

This May Day, we're joining thousands of organizations across the US for a Workers Over Billionaires national day of action: No work, No school, No shopping.

We'll see you at Union Park at 1pm as we march for a future where all our neighbors can live in dignity with all the resources they need and deserve. That future requires us to tax the rich, abolish ICE, and expand democracy to end corporate rule.

Sign the pledge at the link in our bio or go to bit.ly/nobillionaires !

We’re out here knocking doors in North Lawndale today, asking our governor and state reps to pass an Illinois budget that taxes the rich to fund healthcare, education, and youth! To fund our futures, we have to tax the rich.

As we fight the billionaire agenda across many fronts, it’s crucial that we defend and expand progressive electoral power–so we can block corporate attacks on our Black, Brown, and working class communities and build a future where we have the resources to thrive, not just survive.

This April 17th & 18th, members of United Working Families will gather for Convention to reflect, set organizing goals, elect delegates to the Party Committee, and build unity across our larger progressive political movement!

✅ RSVP: bit.ly/uwf26convention

Day 1: Friday, 4/17, 4:30-8pm @ CTU
Day 2: Saturday, 4/18, 9am-3:30pm @ Arturo Velasquez Institute

All dues-paying members have voting rights at Convention!

🔗Become a member: bit.ly/uwfdonate

We were at the Douglass Library recently for a West Side regional meeting to prepare for our Spring Convention. We shared our visions of fully-resourced communities and the fight to tax the ultra wealthy at the local and state levels to pay for it.

We were joined by UWF champion who grounded us in the longterm work of building a united rainbow coalition to win the change we deserve.

We’ll be on the north side next Tuesday, March 31st, for our last regional meeting before Convention on April 17th & 18th!

🔗RSVP: bit.ly/uwfmobilize