With 55.5% of the Vote Against Three Opponents. A True People’s Victory Building on a Legacy of Four Decades of Rooted Aldermanic Leadership
Jessie Fuentes will be sworn in as the Alderperson of the 26th Ward on May 15, 2023; after officially garnering 55.5% of the vote- a landslide victory against a coordinated campaign by 3 opponents: Angie González-Rodríguez, Julian “Jumpin” Pérez, and Kirk Ortiz. Jessie, and our people prevailed over a joint campaign by three candidates backed by all of the enemies of our community: the gentrifiers who wanted the return of Riot Fest with all of its destructive enviornmmental impact in Humboldt Park; the so called “preservationists” who never challenge the terrible mess that event left in our community, and who are more deeply concerned about a new edition to The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts& Culture (which is being constructed to house our collective memory); the lumpen elements in this area (who will sell their souls to the highest bidder and who know that their days of drug dealing and violence will end with a practice that empowers our youth); and more so by the organized, right-wing, racist, pseudogang- The Fraternal Order of Police. This last one has spent thousands of dollars on a mailer impugning the reputation of our homegrown community activist- Jessie Fuentes. All these elements combined could not confront the people’s campaign which Jessie Fuentes organized. Our working families, our white allies, our elders, our youth, our African-American brothers and sisters, and all those who truly believe in social justice, who see gentrification as a process of spatial deconcentration to dismantle our Puerto Rican community came together as ripples of energy in a mighty current, which created the “Jumping” effect that drove our enemies and Julian back to his dark suburban abode. Jessie’s election will ensure that after four decades the practice which informed the process of the political & economic empowerment of this community carried out by her predecessors- Luis Guttiérez, Billy Ocasio, and Roberto Maldonado will continue, and will take on new dimensions as we build a strong foundation for a beloved community of hope and change.
By La Voz Staff
