We live in a working class city. Our labor, skills, ingenuity and pride built this city. We keep Chicago running, yet we have no voice in how it is run. The mayor and city council redistribute the wealth we create to the rich and corporations instead of making our city better for working people. Every year they take hundreds of millions that were collected to pay for our streets, schools, public transit and infrastructure and spend it on prestige projects that benefit the super-rich.

We face a real crisis, but it is a crisis of priorities, not resources. The rich get tax cuts while we face cuts in city services. In a time of record profits for the financial and corporate elite, working people face outsourced and privatized jobs, low pay or no pay, increased workloads, reduced benefits and stolen pensions. This crisis is worse for Black, Latino and young people.

These issues require urgent action. Neither Republicans nor Democrats offer solutions because both parties represent the 1% – from the billionaires who are pushing charter schools to real estate charlatans to poverty-wage employers. Until we create our own political voice, working people will continue to be locked out of the corridors of power.

We are declaring our independence by creating a real alternative to the Democrats and Republicans: a Socialist one. Our movement strives to represent the interests of all working class people, whether employed or unemployed; women, people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, both documented and undocumented, and people who are differently abled. Real change is never handed down by politicians. Real change is won by people standing together and building movements.

As Socialists, we will fight to put our city’s enormous wealth at the service of human need instead of corporate greed. We will fight for a $15/hour minimum wage because too many of us cannot make ends meet. We will fight to reclaim our neighborhoods by stopping foreclosures and evictions, and by turning vacant homes and apartments in our city into quality, affordable housing. Many of us are union activists; we will fight to defend our unions, and call on our union sisters and brothers to help build this campaign.

We will fight against police brutality and the treatment of our young people as criminals.We will fight against mass incarceration and racism, segregation and discrimination in all of its forms. We will fight to enforce the ban against the Chicago Police Department cooperating with ICE and to stop the deportations that are destroying our families and communities. We will fight for access to the vote for all Chicago residents.

Our campaign draws its strength from existing struggles for better pay, better schools, and better housing. Our campaign promise is to join these struggles, help build them, and amplify their voices. We work within our communities to shape the answers to the crises we face. We draw on our experiences as grassroots leaders, community organizers, union members and activists. We invite our brothers and sisters in these struggles to help shape this campaign.

The Chicago Socialist Campaign is about changing the system. We are building a people-centered and people-led movement in order to make real, lasting change in all of our lives. We are fighting for a society that puts people before profit. The needs and aspirations of working people, the poor, the homeless, the incarcerated, the undocumented, victims of discrimination, and all exploited people must set our course. Our campaign is inspired by this vision and is one step towards that goal. That’s what makes it a Socialist campaign.