Campaigns — Eva Nagao

One of the most remarkable campaigns I have been a part of was the 2015 #BYEANITA Campaign, when a group of young—mostly black, brown, queer, and femme—organizers mobilized voters to oust long-time Chicago State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who—along with Mayor Rahm Emanuel—was accused of covering up the murder of Laquan McDonald after he was shot 16 times by Chicago Police.

Using banner drops, train takeovers, disrupting fundraisers, and boycotts, organizers managed to turn every single predominately black ward in Chicago against Alvarez, the incumbent, who lost handily by a nearly 3-1 ratio. You can see the zine I put together on behalf of the For the People Artists Collective, “Ten Things You Hate About Anita.”

For more examples of Chicago-style grassroots organizing, check out these campaigns I was able to work on under the amazing leadership of queer youth and abolitionist allies:

Policing in Chicago Public Schools, a series of reports on school-based arrests (2013)
UN Shadow Report sent to the United Nations Committee Against Torture (2014)
“Counter-Caps" Report” that was part of the #CHIStops campaign (2015).