Ja'Mal Green
Born (1995-08-09) August 9, 1995
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma materWendell Phillips Academy High School
Occupation(s)Community activist
Politician
Political partyIndependent
Children3[1]

Ja'Mal Green (born August 9, 1995) is an American community activist from Chicago, Illinois. A Black Lives Matter activist,[2][3] he was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Chicago in 2019 and 2023.[4][5][6]

Early life and education

Born in 1995, Green grew up in the Englewood, Gresham, and Beverly neighborhoods of Chicago.[7] He was educated at Wendell Phillips Academy High School.[1]

Career

In 2016, Green served as the official surrogate for Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.[7] In the same year, he was arrested along with 19 others at the Taste of Chicago, where an anti-police brutality event was being organized.[5]

In 2018, Green along with his team founded Majostee Allstars, an urban center which provides guidance and training to underprivileged youth.[7]

During 2019 Chicago mayoral election, Green ran for the office as a candidate, but withdrew on January 1, 2019 citing insufficient campaign resources to fight a challenge by Willie Wilson to signatures on his ballot petition.[8] Green endorsed Lori Lightfoot in the runoff election.[9]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Green created Mobile Nail Salon.[10]

In June 2020, Green started protesting along with other activists against Chase Bank's loan policy and demanded to retain and implement Community Reinvestment Act.[11] On June 3, 2020, WBEZ published a report in which it was written that, in over a six year period, Chase Bank only handed out 1.9 percent of total loans to black-majority neighborhoods.[11] Due to his persistent protests, he was banned from entering Chase Bank branches in July 2020.[12]

In July 2020, Green created The Small Business Repair Program along with David Doig to help black-owned businesses which were affected due to looting.[13] The amount for the program was raised through donations.[13]

Green became well-known after his activism surrounding the Laquan McDonald case.[14] In February 2022, he was again arrested for taking part in a protest which was demanding the arrest of a police officer named Jason Van Dyke for his murder of Laquan McDonald.[15][16]

In June 2022 Green announced that he intended to run for mayor of Chicago again on a platform focused on public safety, modernizing city government, economic development, and climate change.[17] Green filed petitions to be on the ballot for the 2023 Chicago mayoral election in December of 2022 and won a lottery to be the first candidate listed on the ballot.[18] In the initial round of the election, Green was defeated, placing sixth of nine candidates with 12,239 votes (2.17% of the election's overall vote). Green endorsed Paul Vallas in the runoff election.[19]

Green is also the founder of an organization called My Turn to Own.[20]

Books

  • Class Clown: Three Strikes But Not Out (2014)

Filmography

  • Of Boys and Men (2008)
  • It Takes a Village (2009)
  • Reggie Yates: Life and Death in Chicago Film (2016)

Electoral history

2019 Chicago mayoral election
Candidate General election[21] Runoff election[22]
Votes % Votes %
Lori Lightfoot 97,667 17.54 386,039 73.70
Toni Preckwinkle 89,343 16.04 137,765 26.30
William Daley 82,294 14.78
Willie Wilson 59,072 10.61
Susana Mendoza 50,373 9.05
Amara Enyia 44,589 8.00
Jerry Joyce 40,099 7.20
Gery Chico 34,521 6.20
Paul Vallas 30,236 5.43
Garry McCarthy 14,784 2.66
La Shawn K. Ford 5,606 1.01
Robert "Bob" Fioretti 4,302 0.77
John Kolzar 2,349 0.42
Neal Sales-Griffin 1,523 0.27
Robert L. Washington (write-in) 47 0.01
Tamara McCullough AKA Tamar Manasseh (write-in) 11 0.00
Catherine Brown D'Tycoon (write-in) 7 0.00
Stephen Hodge (write-in) 7 0.00
Ja'Mal Green (write-in) 6 0.00
Daniel Fein (write-in) 3 0.00
Richard Benedict Mayers (write-in) 2 0.00
Robert A. Palmer (write-in) 1 0.00
Total 556,844 100 523,804 100
2023 Chicago mayoral election
Candidate General election[23] Runoff election[24]
Votes  % Votes  %
Brandon Johnson 122,093 21.63 319,481 52.16
Paul Vallas 185,743 32.90 293,033 47.84
Lori Lightfoot (incumbent) 94,890 16.81
Chuy García 77,222 13.68
Willie Wilson 51,567 9.13
Ja'Mal Green 12,257 2.17
Kam Buckner 11,092 1.96
Sophia King 7,191 1.27
Roderick Sawyer 2,440 0.43
Write-ins 29 0.01
Total 564,524 100.00 612,514 100.00

References

  1. 1 2 "Chicago mayoral candidate profile: Ja'Mal Green". Chicago Tribune. January 24, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Police Say They Arrested More Than 100 People During Mag Mile Looting". August 10, 2020.
  3. ↑ "USA TODAY live 1961 events highlight civil rights wins, showcase musicians, activists, poets". USA Today.
  4. ↑ Fernandez, Daniel (July 6, 2020). "Why JPMorgan Chase Should Give $1 Billion to Black Neighborhoods in Chicago". The Nation. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Ja'Mal Green: 22-Year-Old Activist Sets Sights on City Hall".
  6. ↑ "Wilson enters 2023 mayoral race, calls 2019 endorsement of Lightfoot 'hell of a mistake'". CBS News.
  7. 1 2 3 "Ja'Mal Green Empowers Inner-City Residents with Home Ownership". August 31, 2021.
  8. ↑ LaTour, Amee (January 1, 2019). "Ja'Mal Green withdraws from Chicago mayoral race, 17 candidates remain – Ballotpedia News". Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  9. ↑ Green, Ja'Mal [@JaymalGreen] (March 22, 2019). "Ja'Mal Green on Twitter: "I'm proud to endorse @LightfootForChi for mayor of Chicago. She is the mayor we need at this time. I also commended Toni Preckwinkle on her years of service and I hope they both can work together in the near future. Our agenda is plain and Lori has adopted it. #lightfootformayor‌ https://t.co/tYh303qBdS"" (Tweet). Retrieved April 2, 2019 – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ "Some Chicagoans find success with starting small businesses amid pandemic". March 4, 2021.
  11. 1 2 "Chicago Activist Ja'Mal Green Calls for Change at Chase Bank, Warns of 'Pop-Up Protests'".
  12. ↑ "Chase Bank Bans Chicago Activist Protesting Lending Disparities". July 17, 2020.
  13. 1 2 "South Side Businesses Get a Chance to Rebuild Thanks to Activist's Grant Program". July 10, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Can This 22-Year-Old Activist Become the Next Mayor of Chicago?". June 14, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Ja'Mal Green, William Calloway fined, ordered to stay away from federal courthouse after van Dyke protest". February 8, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Protesters raise voices in the Loop after ex-cop Jason van Dyke, convicted in shooting of Laquan McDonald, leaves prison". Chicago Tribune.
  17. ↑ "Community Activist Ja'Mal Green Enters 2023 Chicago Mayoral Race". June 14, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Ja'Mal Green, 8 Black aldermen take top ballot spots in city election". December 13, 2022.
  19. ↑ Myers, Quinn (March 15, 2023). "Ja'Mal Green Endorses Paul Vallas, Attorney General Kwame Raoul Backs Brandon Johnson In Mayoral Runoff". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Community activist Ja'Mal Green leads program to increase inner city home ownership". August 29, 2021.
  21. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE FEBRUARY 26, 2019 MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL OF THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO" (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  22. ↑ "2019 Municipal Runoffs – 4/2/19". Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Tabulated Statement of the Returns and Proclamation of the Results of the Canvass of the Election Returns for the February 28, 2023 Municipal General and Alderperson Elections Held in Each of the Precincts in all the Wards in the City of Chicago" (PDF). Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. March 15, 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Tabulated Statement of the Returns and Proclamation of the Results of the Canvass of the Election Returns for the Municipal Runoff Election Held in Each of the Precincts in all the Wards in the City of Chicago and for the Supplementary Alderperson Elections Held in Each of the Precincts in Wards 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 21, 24, 29, 30, 36, 43, 45, 46, and 48 in the City of Chicago on April 4, 2023" (PDF). Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. March 15, 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
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