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Articles by Madeline Talbott
Remembering Amisha Patel, a Lifelong Organizer for Justice
Chicago lost an organizing giant on April 24, 2026 with the passing of Amisha Patel. Amisha took a groundbreaking, deeply relational approach to collaborative organizing between community and labor, transforming the way the city organizes along the way. As the Executive Director of the Grassroots Collaborative and leader in Grassroots Illinois Action (GIA), she was a key organizer in the fight for a more equitable Chicago in campaigns that impact the lives of Chicagoans to this day.
A Departed Labor “Saint” Offers Vital Insights for This Moment
Staughton Lynd, worker-led unionism, and the total rejection of restraints on it. We’re in a union moment –– and that’s an understatement. The conditions to form or advance a labor union in the United States are as good as they’ve been in many generations. People who work in an array of jobs and geographies are turning towards unionism in staggering numbers.
How To Build the Power To Win
The Power to Win report interviewed and surveyed close to 300 organizers about what power is, what it isn’t, and whether we have it. Learn more about their insights here. Across the country, progressive organizers are pouring tremendous energy and ingenuity into campaigns to win policies that will make our communities stronger.
How to Build a New World, Locally
Using Chicago's model of volunteer precinct captains can help win elections, rebuild our sense of community, and birth a world worthy of the mass social movements of the 21st century. Three million of us erupted out of our homes for the Women’s March after Donald Trump was elected. Twenty-three million of us marched for Black lives after George Floyd’s murder.
Power, Control, and Trust in Coalitions
Like most organizers, I used to hate coalitions. They seemed to consist of a mixture of organizations that had something to contribute (a base, research, relationships with decision-makers) and organizations that wanted to tell the rest of us what to do. For membership-based organizations, our bonds with our members and our democratic decision-making structures were often threatened by individuals who wasted our time arguing about what our members should be doing.
The Origins of Fight for 15 in Chicago
Workers from stores throughout downtown Chicago streamed into the already packed meeting room, picking up a slice of pizza and a drink or dropping their kids off in the childcare room. A short Latina woman stood up and introduced herself in Spanish while someone else translated. “I work in the kitchen at McDonald’s,” she said. “The big one. The one they call the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonald’s, on Ohio Street. We are all Latinas in the kitchen. We all make minimum wage. We get no benefits.
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