Politics

Rainbow Push Coalition/Push Excel kick off first summer STEM/sports camp since pandemic began, pushing for peace to combat violence (Chicago, IL) – For the first time since the pandemic began, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and PUSH For Excellence (PUSH Excel) are hosting a summer STEM/Sports Camp Saturday, July 17th – August 28, 2021 on two sites to promote a PUSH for peace as Chicago’s violence continues to soar.

Speaker Welch Meets With President Joe Biden, Addresses Recent Rise in Violence - House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch met with President Joe Biden during his recent trip to Illinois where he discussed the “Build Back Better” agenda, specifically proposals focused on education and child care. 

President Preckwinkle Announces $1.5 Million Investment to Address Root Causes of Crime and Violence in Cook County (Cook County, IL) - President Preckwinkle joined Commissioner Dennis Deer, Congressman Danny Davis and community leaders to announce a $1.5 million investment to community-based organizations through the Justice Advisory Council (JAC).

Chicago lawsuit gains national attention, commentary in New Hampshire - A lawsuit filed in Illinois targeting critical race theory (CRT) teachings as discriminatory is fast drawing national attention.

Teacher sues Evanston-Skokie School District over CRT (Evanston, IL ) - A District 65 grade school teacher has formally filed suit in federal court against the Evanston/Skokie Community Consolidated district alleging discrimination over its critical race theory teachings.

Media literacy requirement, animal products ban among latest 53 bills signed by Pritzker (Springfield, IL) - Public high schools in Illinois will soon be required to teach students how to access and evaluate various kinds of news and social media they see online and elsewhere as part of their regular curriculum.

Unprecedented unemployment deficit threatens to ‘cripple’ businesses, claimants (Springfield, IL) - Since economic shutdowns began and COVID-19 death counts started to rise in March 2020, national unemployment rates have hovered at historically high numbers, stressing state unemployment systems left dealing with an unprecedented number of claims.

Pfleger calls on Pritzker to declare gun violence an emergency in Illinois (Chicago, IL) - Declaring “Illinois is in a state of emergency,” the Rev. Michael Pfleger of the Archdiocese of Chicago is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to take immediate action.

New law requires public schools to teach Asian American history (Springfield, IL) – All public schools in Illinois will soon be required to teach a unit on Asian American history and culture as part of their social studies curriculum.

Sen. Elgie Sims, Jr. (D-Chicago) is sponsoring legislation to provide affordable housing for students attending Illinois community colleges