FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2018
CONTACT:
Sean Anderson
312.905.3563
Sean.Anderson@amaraenyia.com
With a Strong Following within the African-American Community, Dorothy Brown Backs Amara Enyia for Mayor
CHICAGO – Today, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown endorsed Amara Enyia for Mayor. With a strong constituency among African-American voters, Brown’s endorsement is a significant boost to Enyia’s campaign for mayor and represents the first indication of consolidation among African-American candidates vying to replace Rahm Emanuel.
“I am pleased to earn Dorothy Brown’s endorsement because we share an unapologetic commitment to improving the lives of communities throughout Chicago. After decades of disinvestment, we need bold solutions that will fundamentally change our city and our neighborhoods. Dorothy is not just endorsing my candidacy, she’s endorsing a shared vision for fundamental change in Chicago – change toward racial justice, innovative solutions and bottom-up leadership.”
Brown’s endorsement will further establish Enyia’s qualifications for office and propel her agenda for marginalized communities, which includes economic growth, police reform, and equitable school funding. Amara Enyia has proposed addressing punitive fines, fees, and tickets that punish people for being poor. One policy that is resonating among people of color and low-income families is her proposal to ‘ban the boot’ so people do not lose their form of transportation, which jeopardizes their jobs and livelihoods.
For more information on Enyia’ economic justice platform, visit her website here.
Amara Enyia’s Speech Transcript: Today is an important day in our city. We know the grave challenges we face. A fiscal crisis that is saddling residents with crushing taxes, an ever widening gap between haves and have nots, neighborhoods that have been left out of the progress that we have seen downtown.
I am a practitioner of public policy, with the lens of a grassroots organizer. What that means is that nobody knows the city budget like I do. I conduct a comprehensive budget analysis every year and present my findings to individuals and community groups so they can be empowered with information.
As an economic development professional, I’ve seen the lack of economic investment in our neighborhoods up close, including on many projects I’ve worked on,
As an expert in the business community, I’ve seen how red tape , bureaucracy and lack of access to capital have driven businesses out of Chicago, hindering our ability to promote ownership and build wealth.
As an education expert, I worked with families and communities organizing against school closings in 2012 and have spent every year since then doing policy work that promotes equity and better education outcomes for our children.
And as an organizer I’ve seen how the voices of the most marginalized, and our young people, have been ignored. And how the city’s lack of imagination and lack of creativity prevents us from solving our problems.
There is absolutely no question that our city must break away from the status quo of the establishment politicians that have gotten us here.
Dorothy Brown’s entire career has been based upon a refusal to be absorbed by that very establishment. With her extensive credentials , She has consistently beat the odds as a professional, an administrator, and public servant.
She fought the democratic machine, and won. She recognizes that Chicago needs new, independent leadership that is – as she so often states – unbought and unbossed.
Dorothy knows that the same politicians who have been part of the problems in this city will NOT be the ones to bring us into the future. And she recognizes that we need a multiethnic, intergenerational coalition – which our campaigns represent. Her support epitomizes the need to build bridges across generations because the future of our city depends on it.
She knows that we need a new vision, with new, competent leadership with creative and bold agenda to move us forward. I look forward to working with her to spread our message far and wide and the galvanize voters to support this campaign.