ORIGINAL JUSTICE DEMOCRAT: Anthony Clark - Illinois - U.S. Congress - District 7

Anthony Clark - Illinois

U.S. Congress - District 7

Original Justice Democrat

Anthony Clark 2020 Campaign Announcement Video

Anthony Clark was born in the south side of Chicago to two working-class parents. His father is a retired proof reader and military veteran and his mother is a retired accounts coordinator, both born and raised in the Morgan Park area of Chicago.

A World of Opportunity - Anthony Clark 2020

Growing up in Oak Park, Anthony experienced firsthand how wealth disparities and demographics determined an individual’s possibilities. When traveling to visit family and friends, he saw how a block, an area code, and a zip code, could be the difference in access to opportunity. Like many, Anthony was impacted by death, incarceration, poverty, and illness.

Anthony realized his parent’s dreams by becoming the first individual in his immediate family to obtain a college degree, earning a BA in Communication and an MA in Criminal Justice while serving active duty in the United States military. In 2009, Anthony was honorably discharged from the Air Force due to a service connected disability.

Original Justice Democrat Anthony Clark is Back—And Stronger Than Ever! - Humanist Report

Following his honorable discharge, Anthony became a teacher and has taught in alternative, charter, and CPS schools. As an educator, he has worked with a wide range of promising high school students, with a focus on building generational socio and economic empowerment. Anthony has also continued his education as he has one BA degree and three MA degrees, with the last one being in Educational Leadership.

His experience as a teacher led him to further recognize the systemic issues that exist within our education and justice systems. Believing in restorative justice and a holistic approach to education, Anthony created a Hip Hop Club and created a Hip Hop curriculum focused on social justice that is now a History class at his current high school.

While teaching, Anthony also founded and is the director of the non-profit Suburban Unity Alliance, as well as the co-owner of Neighbors United LLC.

Savage Joy with Anthony Clark, running for Congress in illinois CD7

Suburban Unity Alliance (SUA) launched prior to the 2016 presidential election, with a mission to promote equitable community practices that showcase diversity and a vision that each member of a community will have equitable opportunities and experiences no matter their demographic background. SUA has led or collaborated on multiple policies and initiatives to protect Black, Brown, women, Muslim, Jewish, LGBTQIA, immigrant, and community members with disabilities, while his small business focuses on employing and empowering at risk youth.

Anthony’s experiences have given him a much deeper understanding of how policies impact us and how a lack of effective representation leads to a further erosion of our society. It’s one thing to hold a title of a representative—it’s an entirely other matter to put boots to the ground and fight to address the root causes that lead to the systemic issues we face.

IL-7 is a district of hard working, diverse fighters, but you would not know it from our current representation, who for over two decades have watched over a community that continues to lose residents due to high crime, a struggling economy, minimal jobs, school closures, and an overall lack of investment.

Progressive Anthony Clark Takes on Danny Davis in Illinois - Hard Lens Media

Anthony decided that IL-7 could do better. We can champion education reform, criminal justice reform, an end to the war on drugs, retroactive legalization of cannabis with a focus on empowering the hardest hit communities, Medicare-for-All, a Federal Jobs Guarantee, tuition-free college and trade schools, a green new deal, and a fight to end hate, as well as oppression.

When Anthony Clark ran in 2018, he knew that in order for us to change our Congress, we had to change how business is done in Illinois. He had to run a campaign with integrity and turn away from lobbyists. We did that and though we fell short of our goal, our campaign learned valuable lessons and gained valuable experience to make this grassroots campaign that much stronger for 2020. IL-7 has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the nation - but that isn’t because voters are uneducated; it’s because after generations of backroom dealing, we haven’t felt that our vote truly mattered. Anthony Clark 2020 is changing that.

Anthony Talks Organizing Against The Machine - WCPT Interview

In IL-7, we are homeowners and renters; we live in dense urban areas and suburban communities. We speak multiple languages, encompass many different religions, races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, ages, and economic status, and have two different baseball teams, each with their own rabid fan bases. If there's any community that can show America how to get along and champion working class values, it’s us.

My grandma Lil used to say, ‘Many hands make light work.’ Changing our community for the better cannot be done alone, but together we can truly make a difference. Join the campaign, volunteer, spread the message, and donate. Our many hands will lead to a true power shift in our community, because when WE organize, WE fight, and WE win.

Our campaign is running the right way: no corrupt political machines, no big money PACS, and no back-door lobbyists which means our decisions can't be bought. We are putting all of our faith into hardworking people like you.

Anthony Talks Taking on Danny Davis and Corruption - TCSN Live Interview

Through the power of the community, we WILL pass Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, free public higher-ed and trade schools, and end the prison-industrial complex.

The Anthony Clark 2020 campaign is 100% people powered, meaning we take 0 contributions from Corporate-PACS.

Can we count on your support today?

A Progressive Candidates Campaign