Andrew Bowe
Support Staff
The 10th ward is deserving of Change
The 10th ward is deserving of Change
Oscar Sanchez is a long-time resident of the Southeast Side and a community organizer running for alderman of Chicago’s 10th ward, with experience working on community development, anti-violence, environmental justice, and education justice.
A child of the Southeast, Oscar is the son of immigrant parents who came to the United States from Mexico like many others in search of better economic opportunities. From a young age, Oscar recognized the grit, sacrifice, and resilience that was necessary to survive. Growing up Oscar’s mother always reminded him, “We don’t have much but at last we have each other,” he witnessed how on many occasions the community, through systems of care, helped his family get through hardships that were common for many working class families.
Oscar’s parents sparked his advocacy work as they challenged him at a young age to use his privilege to speak up against injustices, and to empower others to speak up.
Oscar spent his college years at Harold Washington College advocating for educational justice and increased funding, uplifting the needs of marginalized communities, and urging funding transparency through his involvement in student government and as a member of the Illinois Community College Board; representing all community college students in the state. Oscar spent his last year of college becoming the president of the Organization of Latin American Students, collaborating with the United Nations Chapter, and holding workshops with the Chicago Mexican Consulate.
In 2018, Oscar connected with other youth on the Southeast side to co-found the Southeast Youth Alliance (SYA) which amplifies voices of youth and create opportunities in the community. Through this time, he helped organize community visioning sessions, community clean-ups, mentorship programs, and organizing festive community events.
In response to the pandemic in 2020, the community came together once more and Oscar helped co-found the Southeast Response Collective, a mutual aid group. Providing volunteer support and mobilization for resources, food pantries, organizing with local officials, and coordinating COVID information panels with local health professionals.
During this time, Oscar was also working for Alliance of the Southeast, where he became the Director of Youth and Restorative Justice programming. One of his accomplishments was conducting community safety meetings, and through this work in partnership with Chicago Public Schools’, “Whole Safety Committee”, he created a process in which schools could decide to have service resource officers, and/or funding for restorative justice programming, which was a $3.2 million reinvestment into the Chicago Public School system.
Most recently, Oscar Sanchez held a crucial role as one of the organizers that helped stop the relocation of a polluting metal shredding company from coming to the Southeast Side. As a part of the Stop General Iron campaign, Oscar was part of town halls, community meetings, demonstrations, and even participated in a hunger strike for 30-days to advocate and plead for the denial of the permit for General Iron. The permit was ultimately denied in March of 2022 and in July the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development ruled the relocation of the facility violated the community’s civil rights by attempting to move polluting businesses from white communities into Black and Latino areas that are already overwhelmed by environmental and health issues.
As a George Washington High School alumni, Oscar understands the struggles that face public education. He was recently elected to the GWHS Local School Council to advocate for the students and the families of the high school; fighting for a resources and a new school and campus that is long overdue.
The Southeast Side has always been home for Oscar, it is here where he has experienced the perseverance, resilience, and joy of his family and neighbors. Oscar believes our communities and residents are deserving of adequate resources and will work to revitalize the 10th Ward towards a path of healthy, thriving, and sustainable neighborhood spaces.
“Through capturing and organizing in the community, I’ve learned the story of the city within a city, and how community members take care of the community. I have worked alongside the community to build a base that is resisting our home from being a sacrifice zone, I have worked to have youth and community members part of a participatory budget, and when we all were scared at the beginning of the pandemic, community members and myself cofounded the Southeast Response Collective.
We have fought for our survival, it is time for the 10th ward to thrive.
The 10th Ward is deserving of walkable and accessible communities, affordable housing, sustainable and resilient workforce development, and building collective community safety. We will do this through a neighborhood decision-making process. The community is long overdue, and we are deserving of a healthy and thriving Southeast side. Con comunidad todo es posible.”
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