Fifth Ward Alderman Desmon Yancy wants to center the community’s voice in legislation

Desmon Yancy has been representing the 5th Ward since he was sworn in on May 15. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ALDERMAN DESMON YANCY.
Desmon Yancy has been representing the 5th Ward since he was sworn in on May 15. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ALDERMAN DESMON YANCY.

Fifth Ward Alderman Desmon Yancy wants to center the community’s voice in legislation

By Tia Carol Jones

Desmon Yancy gets his service from his parents. During his time in high school at Kenwood Academy, he figured out who he was and how he wanted to serve. Now, he is the 5th Ward Alderman, representing South Shore, Greater Grand Crossing, Woodlawn and Hyde Park.

Yancy began as a labor organizer, getting Black women into labor unions. These women worked as childcare providers and home care workers. He was fighting for dignity and respect, wages and benefits.

“It’s work people do because they love it, but it doesn’t pay well and that’s by design … most of my work has been around breaking down systems,” he said.

What made Yancy want to run for office was seeing the video of the murder of LaQuan McDonald. As a Black man who grew up in Chicago, as the son of a police officer, he knows about the challenges of the Black community and the police. Yancy decided to pivot his organizing work from economic justice to police accountability.

 In 2016, he co-founded the grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability, a city-wide coalition of organizations who were working to create a civilian oversight body for the police department. In 2021, there was an ordinance passed which led to civilian oversight of the police department. Watching that legislative process helped him understand there were a lot of fights to fight in the Black community.

“It’s going to be important that we have elected officials who share our values and who want to do the hard work and have the hard conversations to pass the right pieces of legislation,” he said.

Yancy’s campaign for 5th Ward Alderman was about bringing people in. He wanted to ensure that the community’s voice was centered, in all of the things that are happening in the city. He believes people are disenfranchised because they are disconnected. South Shore and Woodlawn are going through significant development, and Yancy wants to ensure people who have been in those communities for decades can reap the benefits of the “new version of the Southeast side.”

Yancy described his experience as Alderman as amazing so far. To be able to represent the community that raised him has been awesome for him. People in the community have been supportive of his work. He gave credit to the previous Alderperson Leslie Hairston. He wants to make sure people have access to him and his office.

Yancy’s politics are more Black Liberation, which centers on Black issues, Black voices, and the Black experience. After experiencing his first city budget as an Alderman, he would have liked to see real significant steps forward to answering the questions about resolving Black disinvestment – more funding for job training and partnerships that hire Black people or formerly incarcerated people, or education dollars to help support outside programs.

“There are community organizations that are doing a lot of amazing work, who are delegate organizations with the city of Chicago. So, to see more money funneled to them, so they can supplement the work the public schools aren’t able to do, that would be great,” he said.

Yancy believes the more he talks to city residents and knows what the needs are, he will be able to represent in a different position for next year’s city budget. Yancy’s office sends emails with resources, utilizes Facebook pages, as well as one-on-one meetings in the office as a way to engage. Yancy also has regional meetings in the communities he represents. He said the work is about servicing the needs of the community and he wants to hear all the different ways they want to connect and engage with him.

“I think we’re on an upswing on a pendulum across the Ward, and I’m just really honored to steward this process,” he said.

Yancy is looking to build something special in the communities that he represents. In January, Yancy is hosting a small business roundtable. He is pro-Black business. Through this small business roundtable, he wants to bring 20 to 30 businesses and talk about what their concerns are and how the city council can support them. The goal is that as legislation is crafted, it promotes the growth of those businesses.

For more information about Alderman Yancy, visit Ward05@cityofchicago.org or AlderYancy5 on social media platforms.

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