Settling In

As time has passed and the dust begins to settle, I've spent some time reflecting on the major events of this week, for me personally, for our city, and for our country as a whole.

Waking up on Tuesday morning, I’ll admit, I had no idea what the final vote tally would show. We were down by 55 votes across Will and Kendall counties and we knew that mail in ballots would traditionally favor someone with the name recognition built over 40 years in elected office. Still, we put our all into this race and had encouraged hundreds of people to vote for the first time in a city-wide election, so we knew we had a shot.

As the count came in it became clear that the impossible had indeed come to be. We had closed the 55 vote gap and by the end of the day, led Wunderlich by 11 votes, thanks to unprecedented support for a young, first-time, Latino candidate in Joliet.

Make no mistake, what we did together was historic. By coming together over issues of economic, environmental, and racial justice, we did away with the notions of what’s possible. We didn’t do this by electing the son of some powerful family, or by tiptoeing our way to progress. We did this by clearly, fearlessly, demanding the just future we deserve now.

Just hours later, the triple guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin was announced and I was reminded where this all began for me. I was reminded of how I was compelled to step off the sidelines by watching those excruciating 8 minutes of an agent of the state torturing a man to death while a crowd of bystanders pleaded, helplessly, for Officer Derek Chauvin to show humanity. He did not, and George Floyd tragically lost his life in much the same way that black men routinely lose their lives across our country; senselessly and heartlessly at the hands of a callous police state.

The banal cruelty of that act triggered in me the memory of every time I’d been made to feel small and helpless by those in power. It made me feel the impotent rage I felt every time a friend’s life was threatened by a police officer or someone in my community was dealt an injustice because of the color of their skin or the way they speak.

In that moment of righteous indignation, I knew I had to do something, and I chose to march with the Black Lives Matter protesters who had taken to the streets in Joliet. In that movement, I found a beautiful solidarity across my community in Joliet, and across so many people in so many communities across our great nation. I felt the outpouring of love and heard the cry for justice echoed by so many voices across the land.

That moment showed me that we who love justice and peace are not alone and that we are powerful when we stand together. I knew we couldn’t let that moment fade away, so I kept organizing with friends and allies from that movement, a decision that directly led to my decision to stand for Joliet city council. So, for this verdict to come on the same day as the final count in our hard fought election felt powerful, it felt like something beyond mere coincidence.

Then, just a few hours later, a young black girl was killed by police in her home after having called 9-11 to ask for help, and any illusion that we’d turned a page vanished.

This, alongside the recent police killing of 14-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago, was a stark reminder that the results of an election in Joliet and a trial in Minneapolis were not the end of this journey toward justice, just another step toward it.

I know this road will come with its trials and challenges. I know the divisions around just about every issue run as deep in Joliet as they do around the country. But I also know that Joliet is a strong community with a big heart and that what makes us strong is all the ways we care for each other.

I ran for Joliet City Council to serve my community, my whole community. That means creating real accountability to make sure nobody has to live in fear of our public servants. That also means going out into the community and hearing people’s real concerns so we can move forward together.

After all, we are one community, and it’s only by working together that we can win those things that matter to us all, things like affordable water, good jobs, clean air, and safe streets.

Looking ahead, I can only guess at what the next four years have in store for us, but there’s one thing of which I’m certain: if we come together, we WILL build a brighter future for everyone.

I look forward to doing my part alongside all as your representative on the Joliet city council.

In Solidarity,

Cesar Guerrero