4 minute read
UNFILTERED WITH PUBLIC OFFICIALS: ALDERWOMAN MARIA HADDEN
UNFILTERED WITH PUBLIC OFFICIALS: WHERE YOUTH ASK THE QUESTIONS
Maria Hadden is a Chicago Alderwoman and community activist, now serving the city’s Far Northside 49th ward. In 2019, she defeated a 28-year incumbent Joe Moore.
The interviewer, Sabrina Hart
Hadden’s far Northside ward includes Rogers Park, which is well-known for its racial, economic, and ethnic diversity – and its residents’ many years’ of activism to keep it that way! In 2015, Sabrina Hart joined Ladies of Virtue, which empowers young women to become confident and purposedriven leaders. Sabrina says, “What I love about Ladies of Virtue is that they help African American girls like me strive towards success!” Here, she interviews Alderwoman Maria Hadden, of the 49th Ward.
SABRINA: A lot of youth and young adults may not be familiar with you. Who are you and what are your intentions for the city of Chicago?
ALD. HADDEN: I’m a Columbus, Ohio native. For 16 years, I’ve lived in Chicago. Since 2004, I’ve lived in Rogers Park neighborhood, 49th Ward. My formal education focused on civic engagement, pro-democracy, and uplifting community voices in decision making. Also, I support locals in organizing around housing issues.
How will we be able to move past the protests and rioting? How will we do better so people won’t feel like they have to steal because they want to be heard or out of necessity?
What we saw previously [in history] and are seeing now is simple but not easy. People are protesting, rioting, and demanding change. One of the big questions is will the government in Chicago listen this time. My colleagues and I see that and we know people want to have a sense that they are heard.
With the lack of quality healthcare, how can Chicago Aldermen help people grieving because they’ve lost someone due to COVID?
We should be expanding our healthcare throughout Chicago. I am a member of the COVID Recovery Task Force. We are committed to supporting Chicagoans impacted by this pandemic. I don’t know a lot about the Public Insurance option but I wonder what that would look like in Chicago. This pandemic has shown us how important it is that we have healthcare.
Maria Hadden with wife, Natalie Vera. You ran your campaign as an openly gay woman, and this is Pride month, which celebrates LGBTQ peoples’ progress. How are you and fellow Aldermen who are allies coming together to make sure people come together and are still supported?
I was speaking on that with my wife today. We spoke about how to support Black LGBTQ this Pride month. That’s something that I will prioritize this month. We will be highlighting ways that people can support organizations like Brave Space Alliance and Affinity Community Services who are led by and work to support Black LGBTQ individuals in our city.
I was inspired to learn that you have been a strong advocate and introduced the ordinance to make Juneteenth an official city holiday. I think we see now more than ever the need to know our history from Juneteenth to Black Wall Street. We want Black owned businesses in our neighborhoods. What are your thoughts on this?
I didn’t know we would be in this space because of Coronavirus and civil unrest. This coming council will have a resolution around Juneteenth. In terms of economics – not only big businesses, but small Black owned businesses that will need extra support too. Looking back to the 1968 uprising [on Chicago’s West Side], many of those blocks remain disinvested in. We need to look at disinvesting in the police budget. I think this Juneteenth is a time to have that conversation.
In regards to recent events of police brutality across America, how can we use this as an example to make sure police officers never do this again? If the three other officers who murdered George Floyd aren’t held accountable, other officers may murder someone else because they think they can get away with it.
We need to completely reshape what public safety looks like in our cities. Chicago has tried reform after reform and seen little change. We spend hundreds of millions in police misconduct lawsuits and are under a Consent Decree because of a pattern and practice of racism and abuse of force in the department. We need to divest resources from things that aren’t working to make communities safer and reinvest that money in programs and development that we know work.
Continue following what’s happening in the 49th Ward and Chicago by following Ald. Hadden on social media orsigning up for her newsletter.
