Women In the Windy City

For my final project, I had the opportunity to speak with two major influential women on Chicago politics, my hometown. The first woman I spoke to was Toni Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board of Commissioners president and former candidate for Chicago’s 2019 mayoral election. I found this interview to be quite challenging to conduct as Ms. Preckwinkle is not a woman of many words as she was very concise and straightforward in her answers and it was my first time conducting an interview. When asked about her position in politics as a black woman I was surprised to hear her indifference on the matter. She mentioned her involvement in politics began at a young age so her long lasting experience has caused her to not think of her identity as a black woman and its impact on her role as much. Ms. Preckwinkle did not win the mayoral election, though I do not think her identity as a black woman had an impact on that result as all the top candidates in the running were black women. After speaking with her about her work in the Chicago community I believe her political loss was due to her longevity. The people of Chicago were looking for a change in the city and Ms. Preckwinkle reminded the people too much of what they had already experienced. Had she not been involved in Chicago politics for so long, she may have been viewed as a refreshing perspective to the people. 

The second woman I interviewed was Erica Bland, the political director of SEIU Healthcare at Illinois. As soon as our interview began, I could tell how passionate she was about creating change in Chicago. For this interview I mainly focused my questions around her leadership and it impacts her position at SEIU. When asked about her identity as a black woman in politics, she seemed very aware of the affects it has on her image and authority. However, she remains determined in her goals to increasing social and economic justice and views the challenges as just a small obstacle in achieving these goals. One main takeaway I have from this interview is that a support system is crucial to her success in her position. This is understandable because as we have learned in class, black women face twice as much criticism and judgement when in positions of leadership so having a group of supporters can combat the negativity they face. 

Interviewing these women and creating the podcast taught me that many struggles women in leadership face are universal but each woman handles them differently depending on their leadership style. I also learned that it requires a certain grit for women to hold positions of power that I observed in both Ms. Preckwinkle and Bland. Women in leadership face many oppositions that can deteriorate a person’s willingness to remain in the positions. I found that both women’s passion for their work is what helps them remain strong. This project and class have served as both informative and inspiring, wanting me to continue leading however I see best regardless of public opinion and criticism.