Nearly 200 members of The People’s Lobby gathered at the CTU HQ on Saturday, September 13th, for our membership meeting—and what a powerful gathering it was!
From seasoned organizers to first-time attendees, our community came together with one clear purpose: to connect our state-level work with the national fight against fascism while building the power we need to win material changes for working people and the planet.
Understanding the Authoritarian Threat
We opened by naming the reality we’re all living: fascism is on the rise, and too often our legislators choose billionaires and corporate greed over people. These aren’t abstract problems—they affect every single one of us unless you happen to be a billionaire. These challenges can feel overwhelming when we face them as individuals, but that’s exactly why we organize collectively.
LaTanya Lane, a national trainer from our national affiliate People’s Action, gave a crucial analysis of the authoritarian playbook. As she explained, democracy and authoritarianism represent fundamentally different approaches to power, and we need to understand the pillars of support that prop up regimes so we can dismantle them.
Power-holders can’t get what they want alone. They need other people and institutions to support them; otherwise, their power becomes shaky, like we saw last year in South Korea, where people ended martial law from the Prime Minister in just 48 hours. When people withdraw their consent from authoritarian rulers—whether it’s policymakers, media, or anyone who keeps society functioning—they get results.
As nonviolence theorist Gene Sharp once said, “By themselves, rulers cannot collect taxes, enforce repressive laws and regulations, keep trains running on time, prepare national budgets, direct traffic, manage ports, print money, repair roads, keep food supplied to the markets, make steel, build rockets, train the police and the army, issue postage stamps or even milk a cow…If the people stop providing these skills, the ruler cannot rule.” LaTanya reminded us: that gives us power.
Lessons from Victory: The Fight to End Cash Bail
Executive Director Will Tanzman shared powerful lessons from our successful campaign to end cash bail in Illinois. This campaign started over 10 years ago through one-on-one conversations with people in churches on the South Side and south suburbs who were seeing “friends, family, neighbors locked up more and more” in what was clearly “a deeply racist criminal legal system.”
The campaign faced early resistance. As Will noted, Cook County Prosecutor Anita Alvarez refused to address this issue and was “perfectly happy to continue with ‘lock em up and throw away the key’ prosecution,” while Chief Judge Tim Evans “wouldn’t even meet with us.” But through persistent organizing—knocking thousands of doors, engaging in civil disobedience, building coalitions, and helping to get more progressive champions in office—we won.
Our victory shows why our work takes so many forms. Nonviolent actions and civil disobedience, lobbying, introducing legislation, and electing progressive politicians who fight for marginalized communities: all of these are necessary to win lasting change.
Personal Stories, Collective Power
Throughout the meeting, members shared powerful personal stories that illuminated why this work matters. Environmental Justice Task Force Member Molly opened by sharing how a car crash that broke her hip revealed “just how inaccessible everything is—our sidewalks, our roads, our entire transportation system.” Getting around the west suburbs without a car led her to understand that transit isn’t just an environmental issue but about economic justice.”
Hendrik spoke about his uncle, who has PTSD and substance use disorder, and recently lost access to his therapist, who is no longer in-network for his insurance. “If my uncle is worried about getting therapy, how would he have the capacity to worry about our future? Making sure he has access to quality mental health care, and all people like him, makes it possible for us to fight for vital things we need in our daily lives,” he said.
New member Angie spoke about how her father’s incarceration under the cash bail system and her mother’s struggles with government assistance showed her how political and economic institutions penalize poverty while criminalizing and marginalizing low-income Black and brown communities. She found in The People’s Lobby “revolutionary direct political action, an organized movement capable of reshaping policy and redistributing power.”
Targeting Corporate Power
Board Chair Cate Readling brought a powerful analysis of how to topple the corporate pillar supporting the Trump regime. As she wore her “#RacistFOP” shirt from her first civil disobedience arrest, Cate explained that the key difference between the 2017 Trump and Trump now is how they are using the Authoritarian Playbook to exponentially grow the wealth and power of corporations and the ultra-rich.
Drawing on her experience with the national United Health campaign, Cate said that effective organizing came from interrupting business as usual and presenting corporations with a clear cost. “If United wanted to continue to block our care, we would make them look bad in the media and lower their share price, and that cost was higher than they were willing to pay.”
As she put it, “Every single thing we as a people have ever won has required civil disobedience. ‘Civil’ because it is effective, not because we are ‘nice’ or ‘polite.’ Disobedience because every person we pull out of that pillar makes it weaker.”
Our Strategy: Local Action, National Impact
The good news? Our specific, strategic state-level actions can meaningfully address the national concerns we’re all feeling. Members broke into small groups to discuss how our current strategies connect across our campaigns.
- Healthcare: Expanding mental health care access and fighting for universal healthcare at the state level while the federal government stalls
- Environmental Justice: Protecting public transit and our environment
- Justice Reform: Advancing policies to put fewer people in jail and give everyone access to a fair trial
- Progressive Revenue: Making the wealthy pay their fair share to fund the programs we need
What’s Next?
Missed this meeting but want to get involved? Here’s how:
- Join our new member orientation via Zoom on October 1.
- Come with us to Springfield during the Illinois legislature’s Veto Session on October 15 or October 29 to lobby for public transit funding, health care, and more!
- Sign up for direct action training to learn how to take strategic action against fascism through civil disobedience on October 11.
- Get involved in electoral work to support candidates who will fight for working families (email electoral@thepeopleslobby.org)
- Join a task force to help organize on the issues that matter most to you
We’re building a movement that can win material changes for working families while pushing back against the forces trying to divide us. Every person who joins makes us stronger. We don’t need to wait for a heroic individual to save us, because as our emcee Aly Light put it, “we are the heroic community of struggle who will do that for ourselves.”
Want to get involved? Fill out this form, and let’s connect. Together, we can build the power we need to win—but we can’t do it without you.