Editor’s note: Below we reprint excerpts from the speech given by the new mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson after he was sworn in on May 15.
I am truly humbled and honored to stand before you as the 57th mayor of the greatest city in the world.
It’s not just the incredible natural beauty of our city as you look out over Lake Michigan, it’s not just the outstanding food. It’s not just our art and music that pushes the boundaries and redefines genres. I believe what truly makes us great is our people. And not just the names that show up in our history books, but the ones that show up in our schools, on the beat, at the work site, at the concert hall and, of course, in the boardrooms. And of course at the respite center looking out for strangers in need. Chicagoans, we show up. And we have leaders who show up too.
There is something special about this city.
It is alive in each and every one of us here today and it’s always been the heart of everyone who has ever called this land home. I’m talking about the soul of Chicago.
It’s alive in the hearts of the Miami, the Sauk, the Potawatomi who lived on this land for centuries. The soul of Chicago sent a Black Haitian man named Jean Baptiste Point DuSable to establish a city at the mouth of the Chicago River. It was alive in the hearts of tens of thousands who arrived here in the Great Migration including my grandparents who came to Chicago in search of a home. They injected the soul, the rhythm, combined with the traditions of the South, like the blues, and of course, the new cadence, making Chicago the center of both Black enterprise and Black freedom struggles.
It is the soul of Chicago that brought immigrants from all over the world to work, to organize, to build the first skyscraper, to flee persecution in one country, and create an entire industry in another country, including one of the largest hospitality companies in the world. I’m talking about the soul of Chicago. That same soul spurred two immigrants from Guatemala to Humboldt Park where they raised a daughter named Delia Ramirez who would grow up to make our city proud as a member of the United States Congress. Congresswoman Ramirez was born in the same public hospital where I, a child of the Great Migration, received life-saving asthma treatment. That, my friends, is the rich soul of Chicago. That soul is what strikes me today.
[Cheers]
I’m marveling not just at the peaceful transfer of power or the miracle of American democracy or the grand tradition of Chicago elections. It is how much we all share. I’m struck by how much work it took to bring us to this moment. How many decades of slow, grinding progress? Think about the labor movement, which produced luminaries, like my mentor and dear sister Karen Lewis, who model true social-justice unionism and help lead the multiracial, multicultural, working-class movement that organized its way to this moment. The same labor movement that raised wages, established the 40-hour work week, and built the middle class in this city.
From the civil rights movement. embodied by our very own brother, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., which abolished racial segregation in our laws and gave us the Voting Rights Act. From the women’s rights movement, led by Chicago’s Jane Addams and Ida B. Wells, which ensured women would participate fully in every part of civil life. We all are here because of the work of giants who came before us and without whom this day would not be possible.
So often in politics, we think and talk and argue about the things that divide us. Those divisions are real. Many people who love our city deeply have radically different ideas about how to confront the shared challenges that we face.
Y’all know we need revenue. We have a structural deficit. And we have to invest in people. And we have to do that without breaking the backs of working people with fines, fees, and property taxes.
You can’t make people feel bad because they have a payment plan. You can’t stop someone with a payment plan from becoming mayor of the city of Chicago.
Too many Chicagoans fear for their safety when they walk down the streets to get groceries or drive to the gas station, because our city’s homicide and violent crime rates have consistently outpaced our peer cities. Our public transit is unreliable and unsafe.
Rent in Chicago continues to go up year after year after year while the development of both affordable and market-rate housing stagnates. And as a result, too many in our city go to sleep unhoused and too few families know the security of owning their own home. Our downtown commercial corridors still bear the scars of the pandemic with higher vacancy rates and lower foot traffic. Our neighborhoods, particularly those on the South and West Side, have still not tasted the fruits of the investments that they demand and deserve.
Our schools call out for more resources to fulfill their mandate of providing every single child in our city with a world-class education that meets their specific needs. And despite the trauma these challenges produce, too few can rely on the consistent access to mental health care that they desperately need.
But as we debate and discuss the solutions to these crises, I want to remind us that we have the real conversation. And that conversation is about the soul of Chicago.
It’s alive and well in each and every one of us.
We have so much in common, you all. We all suffer when these ills are allowed to fester and grow. These problems don’t just affect particular neighborhoods, one community, or an ethnic group. It affects all of us.
The tears of Adam Toledo’s parents are made of the same sorrow as the tears of Officer Preston’s parents.
Officer Preston’s tragic death, at the age of 24, just last week, reminds us what is really at stake. When we talk about the future of Chicago, we have to be very clear about what’s at stake because she joined the Chicago Police Department for the very same reason that I ran to become the next mayor of the city of Chicago. She believed that through public service, she could be a conduit for justice. To the family of Officer Preston, my heart is with you and know we will be with you every step of the way. Thank you for sharing your extraordinary daughter with the city of Chicago.
Honoring public servants like Officer Preston means truly addressing the challenges that we face. But the only way that we can truly confront and address those challenges is by working together and coming together. Now, we can’t do it in a phony way, in an artificial way that pretends that differences don’t exist. I’m talking about in a deeper way that acknowledges the strength of what makes this city so great. I’m talking about the strength that binds us in the face of our unique perspectives. All of us in this room today are the product of our own stories. And each and every one of us has a story to not only tell but lift up and all of us in this room have the ability to take action, to be the courageous men and women who came before us. And that means, right now, we get to write the story of our children’s and our grandchildren’s futures.
And we get to do that together. And what will that story say? Will it say that Chicago, with its sturdy shoulders and its diverse economy and the legacy of all of our generosity, was too afraid to stand up?
We get to tell a different story. I’m talking about a story that again binds us together. We don’t want our story to be told that we were unable to house the unhoused or provide safe harbor for those who are seeking refuge here. Because there’s enough room for everyone in the city of Chicago, whether you are seeking asylum or you are looking for a fully funded neighborhood.
We don’t want our story to say that we did not invest in all of the people and all of the communities that make our city great. We don’t want that to be our story.
We don’t want a Chicago that has been so overwhelmed by the traumatization of violence and despair that our residents felt no hope or no choice but to leave, shrinking our economy and making it difficult for this city to remain a world-class city. I don’t want that Chicago. Our city gets to be as big as its promises. Our city gets to be as wide as our neighborhoods across the city — all 77 neighborhoods. That’s the story; it’s our neighborhoods.
I’ll repeat it again. We don’t want our story to be that Chicago became so traumatized by violence and despair that our residents felt no other choice but to leave. That will not be our story, not on my watch. Because we, right now, together, are committing ourselves to writing a different future.
As a pastor’s son, I’m reminded of a Scripture, Matthew 6:21, ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ Let’s show the world, Chicago, where our heart is. Let’s build a Chicago that is the economic marvel of our state, the Midwest, and this nation. Let’s build a Chicago that means that our economy gets to grow by rerouting the rivers of prosperity to the banks of disinvestment so that no one goes thirsty. Too much of our land is dry right now and we have to change that and we can. See, I live in one of those drier communities, the beautiful Austin neighborhood on the mighty West Side of Chicago. And the very fact that the mayor of Chicago lives in one of the most disinvested and violent communities in the city, it shows us what’s possible. So, let’s not be discouraged by what it is. Let’s make sure that we never stop imagining what it could be.
So, we’ll create a Chicago where the big development projects get done, the poor have a pathway out of poverty, and large events like the Democratic National Convention that would generate a vitality in every single neighborhood get done. Where our cultural institutions, whether it’s our sporting events, hotels, and our world-class restaurants are supported, promoted, and accessible, not just to those from every corner of the world, but for those from every corner of the city.
By imagining what is possible, we can create a prosperous city which no one is too poor to live in — one of the richest cities in one of the wealthiest countries at the richest time in the history of the world. I’m talking about a Chicago where 65,000 people don’t wake up on the streets or in a shelter. Where public housing and affordable housing and a pathway to home ownership exist for everyone.
We’ll create a Chicago where pathways to college and the high-tech industries and the future exist alongside the pathways to the trades and apprenticeships and the arts. Where every young person has a chance to pursue their passion and get a W-2. Where business, community, labor, philanthropy, work together to connect every young person to an opportunity to fulfill their potential. Where we introduce these to young people as young as six, seven, and eight years old and open up their minds to a world that could be. I’m talking about the soul of Chicago.
And I’m talking about calling in the wisdom of the soul of Chicago, calling in the compassion of the soul of Chicago. Calling in the expertise. I’m talking about calling in every single person in the city of Chicago to build a city that works for everyone. So, let’s get to work where we double the amount of young people that we hire. Some say that we have to wait 20 years for the efforts to pay dividends. I don’t believe that. We can change lives of people in Chicago right now.
So, let’s show our heart is in our young people’s education. Let’s create a public education system that resources children based on need and not just on numbers. Where every single child in every neighborhood, whether they fill out an application or not, whether they are bilingual or not, special needs or not, has access to a world-class education.
Let’s have a system that respects its parents, educators, and school employees. Where the president of the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 and the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools can work together to advocate for more resources for all of our children.
We can do this together. Let’s do the same thing for city colleges which should be a gateway to opportunity for all of our neighborhoods. And so, while we’re at it, let’s work together to make sure that there is child care for all, for every single person in the city of Chicago.
Let’s do it together – to make sure that we are providing support for working parents and giving children the nourishment that they need from day one. And how about we also create a Chicago where the hundreds of thousands suffering from episodic mental health receive treatment and not trauma?
Because people like my late brother Leon, who died addicted and unhoused, if only there was treatment. I want to make sure that no one ever has to suffer because they do not have access to mental health services. People have told us “no” for too long. It’s a matter of life and death.
So let’s bring together the private sector, the public sector, the county, the state, and the federal government to find the best solutions for delivering these services including reopening our mental health care centers across the city of Chicago. So, let’s get to work, Chicago.
Here, I actually believe we can even do something really bold and fix our public transportation system. We can secure safety and convenience for cyclists while making significant investments in the reliability, the safety, and the connectivity of our buses and trains in every single neighborhood. These investments won’t just benefit our economy; they’ll result in a safer, more livable city for all of us.
And once and for all, let’s create a safer Chicago. A safe Chicago means a safe Chicago for all. No matter what you look like, who you love, or where you live. We’ll do it together by investing in people. We’ll invest in housing, mental health, and youth jobs, and higher wage and real economic development in every community. We’ll do it by supporting law enforcement, especially those who are serving on the front lines. That means providing with direct lines of supervision, clear expert expectations for their work, and equal opportunities for advancement and strong accountability and support for every stakeholder in this city. Our faith leaders, our philanthropic institutions, our business community, violence interrupters, researchers, educators, coaches, counselors — it’s going to take all of us. Not one of us can sit down in order to make a better, stronger, safer Chicago, I’m counting on the entire city to deliver on this.
We have no time to spare. As I speak, a group of philanthropic and business leaders are partnering to increase the resources for community youth programming between when school lets out and the Chicago Park District programs begin and to provide more safe opportunities for young people during Memorial Day weekend and the 4th of July. It’s not just up to [Acting Police Superintendent] Fred Waller and his officers. It is up to all of us.
Let’s keep pushing to build a safer Chicago. And speaking of the right thing to do — the soul of Chicago tells us we will never close our doors to those who come here and search of a better life. For as Scripture says, ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
That has always been the soul of Chicago and it will always be the soul of Chicago. We know the strength of a city is determined by how we treat the most vulnerable and so we choose to be a strong city. We must reject a zero-sum formulation between investing in those who have been here for decades and supporting those who have been sent here on a bus even this morning. We can do both, Chicago. And we can all thrive together.
I stand before you today deeply optimistic about the future not because I’m ignorant of the challenges but because I’m deeply aware of our history — from the Great Chicago Fire to the Red Summer of 1919 to the 1968 riots to now, the aftermath of pandemic and unrest. Our city has faced enormous challenges before and every challenge has also had hidden within it tremendous opportunity. There is no limit, Chicago, to what we can achieve when we do it together. And we can, and we will deliver for every single person in the city of Chicago.
Our best and brighter days are ahead of us. Together, we can build a better, stronger, safer Chicago. We just have to look deep into the soul of Chicago.
Whether you live in Jefferson Park or Morgan Park or McKinley Park or Gage Park or in Humboldt Park. I’m talking about a revival in the city of Chicago where the soul of Chicago comes alive. A brand-new Chicago is in front of us. I can’t wait to continue to lead this city towards a future that generations to come will look back and see the soul of Chicago that has made it possible for posterity.
Thank you all. My name is Brandon Johnson and I am the 57th mayor of the city of Chicago!
