Pride Highlight: Lori Lightfoot

Greetings to my ATMS, hope everyone's week is going well. Wednesday which means we are half-way done with this week YAY!!!! and looking forward to a great week ahead. This Pride HighLight moment belongs to the former Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot. Born on August 4th, 1962 in Massillon, OH to parents Elijah and Ann Lightfoot was her beginning to life. Her mother, Ann Lightfoot, was a nighttime healthcare aide and school board member. Elijah Lightfoot, her father, was a local factory worker and janitor. She grew up in a mostly white neighborhood on the west side of the city. Even in school she was passionate about politics, She was elected high school class president three times. Her campaign slogan while running for high school class president was "Get on the right foot with Lightfoot". I find this slogan to be catchy and a shoutout to the King of Soul, Mr. James Brown. She also helped organize a successful boycott for better quality and flavorful pizza for the school. Her punishment unfortunately, for the successful boycott was detention. A price I'm sure was worth it the end. Her journey to the Mayor's seat was a long process that came with many accomplishments along the way. In the summer of June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”. In the fall of October 2020, she was also chosen by the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) to receive the NMQF Honorable John Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award.

On April 2, 2019, Lori Lightfoot won the election, becoming the first African-American woman and openly lesbian individual to be mayor of Chicago. She got 77% of the vote while Preckwinkle got 23%.

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