Chicago's been under the grip of the corrupt and broken political machine for as long as everybody's memory.
My mother is a fascinating person.
When young people grow up with fear as the norm, they don't have the luxury to dream.
I grew up in a small segregated steel town 6o miles outside of Cleveland, my parents grew up in the segregated south. As a family we struggled financially, and I grew up in the '60s and '70s where overt racism ruled the day.
I'm pretty funny on my own.
We have to have a school board that's actually gonna be able to function and that has true parent representatives on it.
I think about my parents, and I think a lot about the sacrifices they have made.
We have to get to a place in the city where our young officers understand that respectful, constitutional engagement with the community is their most powerful tool.
What I hear from folks all the time is 'us against them.' It is a core part of what they feel is happening with our government. Investing here, but not there. Listening to some, but not nearly enough. Going into certain neighborhoods, but not others. That divide is something we have to categorically reject.
I have a coming-out story that's probably very similar to lots of people who are my age: the fear of being rejected, the fear of losing your family and friends. You know, I worked through all of that, and that fear, and what that does to you, is pretty profound.
It's going very different for citizens of Chicago to know that they have an advocate in the mayor's office - getting rid of the 'us versus them,' the lack of investment in our neighborhoods, the feeling that the only thing that matters is if you're a campaign donor.
When you're walking down a street and you are a brown-skinned person or you're a person that lives in an immigrant community, there's no differentiating on - solely on the basis of what you look like. They don't walk down the street saying, hi, I'm an immigrant; I'm here legally or not.
You know, I'm a former federal prosecutor. Before ICE was ICE, I did a lot of cases with Customs Enforcement.
When we ignore the will of the people, people lose.
I know what it's like to be denied opportunity based on the nature of your skin.
There's things that you can learn by being in the room with people that's different than talking to them over the phone or reading a policy paper.
I think he's a great talent, Stephen Colbert.
Our kids' lives depend upon keeping them safe. That has to be a fundamental duty and responsibility for me as mayor. That means we have to continue hard but necessary work of bridging the divide between police and communities they serve.
Our children... deserve to grow up in an environment where fear is not their constant companion. And I'm determined to do everything I can to make sure every kid - in every neighborhood regardless of zip code, economic status and race or ethnicity - is able to live a life of safety.
I am an independent reform candidate. I do not represent the past.
I am not tied to the broken political machine, and I did not aspire to climb the ranks of the Cook County Democratic Party to be the party boss.
I'm not affiliated with Ed Burke, Joe Berrios or anyone else who represents the old, corrupt Chicago way. I am offering voters a complete break from that past and pushing us forward in a way that brings people together and makes government more inclusive.
We can and will make Chicago a place where your ZIP code doesn't determine your destiny.
What I favor is that we have health care access to people that is not income based. We have to have health care that is acceptable and it's going to come in a number of forms.
It's not enough to be anti-Trump.
There's significant movement as far to the left in our party as far as you can go, where people are trying to out-Bernie Bernie.
Taxes and fees in Chicago and Cook County are forcing low-income families like the one I grew up in out of this city. It's clear we can't keep treating low-income and middle-class families like an ATM machine with no limit.
I have to explain to my daughter what it means when adults lie. I have to explain to my daughter what it means when adults are bullies. I have to explain to my daughter what it means when an adult says something that's not true just to try to score political points.
If you look at the number of aldermen who have been prosecuted and found liable of federal crimes over the years... the common thread among all of them is doing something in the exercise of aldermanic prerogative or privilege.
I am a lesbian. I am married to a woman. We have a child. We have a family.
If you really want to make a difference you don't do it via Tweet, via Facebook, via Instagram - you get down, you understand what the facts are and then you offer a path forward.
I have a wealth of experience, not only as a senior executive in different departments in the city, but I've also, in my private practice life, helped small businesses, middle-market businesses really try to navigate the sometimes difficult world of city government.
It's true that not every day a little black girl in a low-income family from a segregated steel town makes the runoff to be the mayor of the third-largest city in America.
When I was in my 20s and kind of going through my own coming out process, I feared that I would lose my family. I feared that I would grow old alone. And that was a real part of my struggle.
Being the mayor of the third largest city in the country, that's humbling, but it also gives me incredible hope.
People feel like city government is corrupt. They feel like it doesn't work unless you have clout.
When you decide you're going to be a public servant, you should not be able to take on interests that conflict with the city.
Community isn't something I ever take for granted.
I grew up in a small town in a low-income family and was the only black kid in my elementary school. I felt like an outsider, and since I didn't know of LGBT people - much less LGBT black women - living happy, healthy, and successful lives, I didn't believe I could ever marry or have a child.
When I came out, it wasn't a big formal conversation like in the movies. I just started living as my true and authentic self and opened up my life to my parents - sharing who I was, and bringing a girlfriend when I came home for a visit. To my great surprise, my parents accepted me for who I was and have supported me since.
Throughout college and law school, as well as in my career as a lawyer and police reform advocate, I've faced various toxic combinations of racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Chicago is an incredibly great city, but it was clear to me that greatness wasn't being spread to all our neighborhoods.
I think of being the mayor of a big city with so many incredible things happening - but also so many challenges and opportunities - as really being kind of the chief advocate for the people.
I've been lucky and I recognize that, but I haven't lost sight of that girl I was.
When I hear stories about the number of kids that have been lost to violence, where families grow up teaching kids 'duck and cover' long before they learn their ABC's or their colors, I know there is something profoundly wrong in our city.
You're never going to catch me agreeing with anything that Bruce Rauner says, given the things he's done in this state, trying to pit the city of Chicago against the rest of Illinois - I'll never agree with anything Bruce Rauner says.
Obviously, I believe that Rahm Emanuel's leadership has failed. Obviously, I believe we need change.
What I'm saying is that government doesn't work for people. There is a perception of it and a reality of it.