COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

the poor. For example, Labor Association volunteers rallied outside the Capitol and
succeeded in gaining a statewide $1 per hour pay raise for attendant care workers
employed by the state’s In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.
Labor Association members, embracing a Marxist ideology, perceived the
political economy of capitalism and the unequal distribution of resources as having
negative effects on the poor. From their perspective, poverty resulted from a historically
marginalizing society, or capitalism. Thus, poverty was a result of structural conditions
in society and social problems were attributed to the poor historically being marginalized
from access to education, jobs, and property. The poor therefore did not have the socio-
economic foundation for social mobility and the poor would remain poor for generations.
By educating the poor about legislation that would benefit or negatively affect them, they
believed the poor would be empowered and better able to represent themselves by
making informative political decisions. From their perspective, systemic analyses of
poverty were needed to help the poor. Members of the Labor Association strongly
believed that lobbying for a government that provided universal health care, equal access
to quality education, and equal access to other resources was one way that social change
could occur.
In hindsight, members of the Labor Association did not participate in projects to
revitalize the neighborhood because they felt the only way to bring about social change
was to become involved in legislative and political issues. They believed the poor would
not benefit from revitalization projects because those projects were not in their interest;
they were not beneficial to them. Members stayed away from neighborhood activities
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