One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.
­— Martin Luther King Jr


Are you sick of Rahm Emanuel yet? When he ran for office, he constantly spoke about “fundamental issues.”
He never elaborated on what those issues were and looking at the way he is focusing on doing all he can to eliminate black people from this city, well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see through his agenda.

We have a city that has become unfriendly not only to poor people but working class people and those who sit at the lower levels of the middle class. Yes, other people feel some of the effects.

But for them it has been economic.

From taxing us to death on everything to the current “X” on re-habitable buildings, the “fundamental issues” plan of this mayor is to force black people off the land.

And he is doing it well.

Let’s start with those “Xs.” Years ago, Section 8 put through a rule that no one with a certificate can live on a block with a vacant lot.

Everyone applauded the idea so as to put those folks into stable neighborhoods and not keep them living in depressed and devastated areas. So every time that “X” shows up now, what is it creating?

A vacant lot. And the double whammy of it is the landlords who have rented to people with certificates for an amount that the commercial market cannot support.

When you have a building that has been generating a certain amount of income and that income won’t continue to be available at the amount the landlord was accustomed to, then the landlord is functioning on a narrow margin and may not be able to hold onto the property.

Although the municipal elections aren’t until 2015, it is time to do all we can to rid the fifth floor of the current mayor.

We must organize and make sure everyone is registered to vote as well as getting out the vote.

We must vote like our lives depend on it (and they do) to rid the city of the worst mayor ever.

The current mayor is incompetent, deceitful, and is continuing the ruination started by his predecessor and perfected by him.

We must begin to seek out and vet one candidate to run for mayor. We must not allow the jack-leg interlopers to come out the woodwork. They jump into the election on Monday, hold the fundraiser on Friday and then quietly drop out of the office on Saturday. Does the one candidate have to be black? Preferably but not necessarily.

What we need is a mayor who will be fair — a mayor who sees the black community as more than just a revenue generator.

We have lived all our lives in Illinois and never had a black governor.

We have only had two black mayors. We have had four black Cook County board presidents.

Start thinking now about who you would like to see run for mayor.

Also the questions to ask them.

But beyond all else, start talking to family members and friends to get them on the “Anybody But Rahm” bandwagon.

www.arlenejones.blogspot.com

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