The November 3 midterm elections demand our attention—and our votes.
Across the South Side, community organizations are registering residents and reminding them that political power begins with participation. Their message is urgent: Check your registration, make a plan and vote early.
Among those leading the effort is the Mayor Harold Washington Legacy Committee, founded by the late media maven Josie Childs and now led by
President Loisteen Woods Walker. Childs often credited retired Kennedy- King Associate Dean Stanley Young as her right-hand man in building the organization. Young established its communications and financial systems, helped develop relationships with schools and other organizations, and gave the committee its initial social media presence.
The work continues through the Come Alive October 5 Voter Registration Committee, chaired by Thomas Wortham III. Its name honors the historic Chicago registration campaign that brought more than 200,000 new voters
onto the rolls and helped pave the way for Harold Washington’s election in 1983 as the city’s first Black mayor.
For Wortham, voter registration is a longstanding commitment. He became involved through the African American Police League, working alongside organizers determined to bring more Black Chicagoans into the political process. Lu Palmer and his wife, Jorja English Palmer, were central to that effort.
“I was mentored by Wilburn Woods,” Wortham says. “We were registering voters, along with Lu Palmer and Jorja English Palmer long before Mayor Washington announced his candidacy.”
Today, the committee carries that work into churches, community gatherings and neighborhood offices.
Wortham says volunteers register voters at Trinity United Church of Christ every second and fourth Sunday and have visited aldermen’s offices.
They also participated in the Real Men Cook voter registration event and registered attendees at the Rat Pack event at Room 43.
Wortham gives special recognition to Devorah Crable, founder and producer of Know Your PowerVOTE, for making registration information easier to access. Crable created a card with a QR code that connects people to tools for checking their registration and registering to vote. According to Wortham, the resource serves voters in all 50 states. Visit KYPVOTE.us to learn more and access the registration tools.
Although Wortham describes this season’s registration efforts as fairly successful, he worries that too many people have yet to recognize what is at stake.
“They don’t seem to understand the importance of this election,” he says.
The committee’s work recalls a lesson from Harold Washington’s rise: Organizing can turn community concerns into political influence.
Registering voters helped change Chicago’s history. Carrying that legacy forward requires people to follow through at the polls.
Registration is the first step. Before heading out, confirm your registration and check the early voting locations, dates and hours for your jurisdiction.
Visit elections.il.gov for Illinois election information, and follow “The Mayor Harold Washington Legacy Committee” on Facebook for more about its work.
Don’t leave voting to the last minute. Choose a day, arrange transportation if needed and encourage someone else to make a plan. The urgency of now calls for action before November 3. Make sure your voice is counted.
