Puerto Rican Women in Chicago Politics Fight Communities Displacement

When she became a Senator for the State of Illinois in 2020, the educator raised in the Puerto Rican neighborhoods of Chicago presented the legislation that her community designed as a protection measure against gentrification, captivating the interest of her colleagues and achieving their approval.

After running and winning 26th Ward for the Democrats in Chicago, she is still skeptical of that party and has her feet firmly anchored in her community.

She became her neighborhood’s Alderwoman thanks to organized groups of workers, immigrants, and the most vulnerable residents in her area, and by positioning herself against the power of developers. Her affordable housing proposals go hand in hand with violence prevention and public health initiatives.

Jessie Fuentes and Cristina Pacione Zayas are two Puerto Rican politicians in Chicago who have experienced government abandonment in various stages of their lives, but who have also witnessed the power of community organizing that achieved anti-gentrification legislation.