COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

Margaret looked at me and said that she was a victim of gentrification of the
neighborhood.
The poor in this neighborhood are being pushed out. This
organization was a victim of gentrification a few years ago. Our
office use to be located on Stockton Boulevard but now it’s located
here because the City forced us out of our old space. We were
informed by the city that businesses development was going to
take place on the commercial space where our office was located
and that we had a few months to move out and find a new location.
Well, I didn’t go anywhere until the last day when the police came
and they handcuffed me and led me out of the building. So we had
to relocate to this place and Stockton Boulevard has new
businesses.
Margaret also informed me that they were seeing an influx of clients due to
gentrification of the neighborhood.
We are providing assistance to a lot more people who cannot pay
their utility bills and are in need of food. Spanish speaking
residents particularly need help and they can’t receive too much
government assistance because they are undocumented. So, they
come here knowing we speak Spanish and won’t turn them down.
She also stated that they were able to recruit more volunteers to picket in front of the
State Capitol to support legislation for minimum wage increases. The Labor Association
did not participate in any community events and if they did, it was to set up a booth and
help gain volunteers for their efforts in the community. For instance, the labor
association would try to keep updated on current community events happening in the
community to keep track of initiatives that were forthcoming and to find a way to make
their organization known in the community.
One day Bob, the operations manager of the labor association asked me if I
wanted to help them set up a booth at a Community Job Fair that was taking place at the
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