Perhaps we need to re-write the sentence, dubiously attributed to George Orwell, that in times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. Let's change it to: In times of political cynicism, expressing optimism in human institutions is a revolutionary act. Advancing those ideas in a political system so many have written off as autocratic and tone-deaf is an act of extreme bravery.

I recently talked to one person, Chicago mayoral candidate Amara Enyia, who is vigorously committed to that kind of revolution. What makes Enyia’s ideas revolutionary is that they're policies which hardwire economic justice and sustainability into institutions themselves. They do not rely on the good graces of the powerful, the beneficence of the wage system, or the probability that the mainstream economy will work as it promises to.

Amara Enyia has never run for public office. She has a campaign fund reportedly filled with hundreds of dollars (in contrast to the $7 million war chest of her opponent, the current Mayor Rahm Emmanuel). And at least one smarmy political scientist has written off her effort, seemingly irritated by ordinary folks challenging the mansplained narrative of liberal elitism. I can't think of too many better reasons to support a candidate, but in this case there are several:

Eniya is a new egalitarian, not an old school liberal elitist. She wants to build structures that overcome scarcity rather than beg the wealthy to ameliorate poverty through charitable acts that preserve their power. Enyia is an advocate for economic justice, not welfare or philanthropy.

The daughter of Nigerian-Americans, Enyia’s father fought for secessionist Biafra in the Nigerian Civil War. The Republic of Biafra seceded from Nigeria in 1967, seeking autonomy and economic equality. Several African nations recognized Biafra, and countries and organizations all over the world sent aid and protested Nigerian genocide against Biafran people; Doctors without Borders was formed in direct response to Nigerian atrocities against Biafra.

In 1970, after about 1 million people had died from war and famine, the Nigerian Federal Military Government reintegrated Biafra into the rest of Nigeria. Enyia’s parents moved to the U.S. shortly thereafter. Raised and educated in Chicago, Enyia obtained a PhD in Educational Policy, and later earned her JD. In 2009, Mayor Richard M. Daly hired her as a policy analyst.

But later, as executive director of a community group and a consultant for municipal development, Enyia grew disgusted with Emmanuel’s policies that reflected a cynical neoliberalism – from his support of gentrification to his vilification of teachers’ and other unions. In one interview, she called Emmanuel the one word that might actually hurt his feelings: “typical.”

"I think if you’re looking for the conventional path, you’re looking for the typical candidate, and the typical candidate is what we now have,” she said.

She’s not wrong about Rahm. An often unhinged, verbally abusive leader, the mayor has placed himself at the far right wing of the Democratic Party, recruiting corporatist, anti-abortion, anti-labor candidates to the party. His kissing up to the financial industry earned him the nickname “Mayor 1%.”. He has dumped resources into the wealthiest sections of Chicago while closing schools and ignoring input from labor, the poor, and community organizations.

A progressive candidate with decent credentials could mount an effective challenge to Emmanuel. While it might not be possible to overcome the mayor's corporate money-machine, a decent turnout would certainly score a moral victory. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis was a people's favorite to beat Emmanuel, but last month she decided not to run.

Enyia, meanwhile, is campaigning for sustainable cities. Her platform calls for expanding restorative justice and enhancing community policing strategies. In an interview recently, she told me she was deeply disturbed by the events in Ferguson, and mentioned Chicago’s own poor history of police-citizen relations. Enyia ties these problems to economic neglect and the need for material justice.

“There are areas of Chicago that have been neglected for decades,” she says. Development happened at the expense of poor neighborhoods. And without new ideas, she tells me, “we end up following trends.” Enyia is vehemently opposed to the privatization of public assets which, she says, “has been hugely detrimental” and makes living in cities unaffordable. She recalls the damage inflicted when her old boss, Richard Daly, privatized parking meters. Now, downtown parking in Chicago can be as expensive as $7 per hour, which is one reason working people can't afford to travel there.

Now, Enyia is running an independent mayoral campaign that has been endorsed by the Justice Party, the Illinois Veterans' Party, and the Chicago branch of Democracy for America. In October, Jet Magazine listed her as one of its “40 Under 40” young Black Americans, who is “killing the game” with ambition and innovation. Like her career in community organizing, Enyia's political ground game is full of communal energy.

"It's been a grassroots campaign,” she tells me. “We've been very aggressive about sharing our policy ideas” at community meetings, informing thousands of people about public banks, financial transaction taxation, and worker-owned cooperatives. “Chicago is key, but it's bigger than Chicago,” she says, as cities across the country are “going through the same thing." Enyia sees her campaign’s ideas as “absolutely essential for the fiscal solvency of cities moving forward,” reversing the trend of privatization, neglect and selective growth industries. Because cities, as she says, are the cradles of democracy and community.

A financial transaction tax is one of the most recognizable calls of her campaign, and there's no doubting its impact if the police is implemented. With a tiny tax on stock trading – around three cents per $100 – advocates say the FTT would raise massive sums of money for the public entities and working people upon whose backs those transactions are taking place. With federal lawmakers unwilling to challenge the big banks, Enyia says it’s time for local candidates to take up the issue – especially in a city like Chicago with its significant high-end trading. A financial transaction tax “could generate billions of dollars,” she says. And Rahm Emmanuel's [opposition to the idea](http://chicago.gotnewswire.com/news/emanuel-opposes-transaction-tax-on-l... seems almost presumptive evidence in its favor.

But Amara Enyia’s two biggest proposals go even further: with public banking and worker-owned cooperatives. Enyia’s case to establish public banking reads like a well-written textbook. The plan, as she lays it out, is simple: deposit public funds into a city-owned bank, lend to small businesses, students and public entities, and keep the interest for further investment in communities.

“I'm for banking as a public utility,” she says, arguing that it will result in “dollars circulating within the city. It's absolutely essential. Otherwise, we're losing that money.” Enyia sees establishing a Chicago public bank as a critical step to helping small businesses access capital, and it could even be a solution to the city's gentrification and affordable housing crisis. “Property owners and landlords need credit to get up to code,” she says. “This is a safety issue, especially in the most challenged communities.”

Enyia isn't alone in this belief. Public banks could change the entire financial game for cities, small communities, public entities and businesses – as referenced a few weeks ago in an article in the Wall Street Journal, which reluctantly concluded that the Bank of North Dakota performs better than big, private banks. This is because when municipal or infrastructure projects are financed by private banks, the resultant interest doubles their costs – a fact Enyia is well aware of when she speaks on the subject. School districts and other public entities spend millions to pay interest on debt – money that should go to students and communities, not straight back to Wall Street. Another paradigm, articulated back in 2012 by educator Tom Tresser, called for access to credit for the public good in the broader context of Illinois.

And while democratized finance is one piece of Enyia’s policy puzzle, a democratized workplace is another. “I'm a big advocate for expanding worker-owned cooperatives,” she says. “People say we need jobs, but I don't think it’s enough to say that. We have to be more nuanced about the kinds of work we create.” Worker-owned cooperatives and worker democracy, she says, will help people realize “the fulfillment of living out your craft.”

Chicago’s current record on worker cooperatives is pretty respectable, in fact. It includes the famous Republic Windows, where workers took over a failing business that was about to be abandoned by its owners. In May, Chicago was host to the National Worker Cooperative Conference. But Enyia says her city can do more. “I want Chicago to be the number one city in the country for worker-owned cooperatives,” she says.

Many people who fight for economic justice are deeply suspicious of electoral politics. But elections can be rallying and gathering points for political movements. If led conscientiously and with commitment, political campaigns can also channel energy back into the social movements that sparked them. This is especially true of local elections which often have more obvious policy consequences, as Green Party mayorships have shown. Local campaigns create and distribute their energy at community centers, schools and public spaces. And that is why, win or lose, Amara Enyia is using the Chicago mayoral election for that purpose.

Simply put, “We're out there telling people what we’re for,” she says. After that, it's the people who decide.

Matt Stannard is an economic justice advocate working with several nonprofits and national advocacy organizations.

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