CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson announced his candidacy for mayor of Chicago today outside the school where he started his career as a teacher.
Johnson was surrounded by educators, union members and activists for various causes outside Jenner Academy, once surrounded by the Cabrini Green housing project.
“My students can see the wealth out of their windows…They will see bulldozers preparing to destroy their homes,” Johnson proclaimed.
Johnson said it was true then, and it is today, Chicago is a tale of two cities. He recalled what he said was one of his worst days as a teacher.
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“I sat there and begin to give them a lecture, about them expecting and accepting the self-fulfilling prophecy that we are trying to disrupt. And, in the midst of that lecture, one of my students raised her hand and she said, ‘the problem Mr. Johnson is that you should be teaching at a good school.’ I could hardly leave my classroom that day, and I promised I wouldn’t cry,” Johnson said.
He believes there must be more equality in the city.
“In order for Chicago to be a world class city, it has to include all of our young people, in its beauty, its wealth and its power,” Johnson added.
He said until Lawndale and Little Village experience the same things as Lakeview and Lincoln Park, no one should be patting themselves on the back.
The preacher’s son in Johnson came out.
"How about a guarantee, a guaranteed right to healthcare, guaranteed right to affordable housing? Listen, we need to do something that my faith taught me a long time ago,” Johnson said. “(On) the darkest day, when the disciples begin to look for a little bit of hope and they could not catch a fish, but Jesus showed up and said, ‘I need you to cast those nets out into the deep.’ We have to be bold and audacious in this city. And, so, we are going to cast our nets out into the deep, and, no matter where you live in this city, we are going to bring a revival to this city to make sure that this city actually works.”
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