Chicago: Black Power Politics and the Crisis of the Black Middle Class

Abstract

international levels and are likely to do so over the next few years. Progressive people everywhere want to answer an important question: What does black power mean in Chicago? Harold Washington was elected mayor on February 22, 1983, at the heart of Chicago's first critical moment in black power politics. The second moment was initiated by his death on November 26, 1987. The movement to elect Washington defeated racist white power and established black power on the basis of a coalition of Latinos and progressive whites.1 It is on the basis of this struggle (1982-1987) that we can sharpen our focus on the recent months since Washington's death. Specifically, we want to discuss who won and who lost on