A group of nurses from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago share the moments that have made the long, hard days worth it. USA TODAY
CHICAGO Dressed in jeans, a striped collared shirt and white sneakers emblazoned with the words MADAM and MAYOR on the heels, the 5-foot former prosecutor grooved to the syncopated beat as the first lyrics rang out: Cash on me, like I hit the lottery.
It's not the typical image for a big-city mayor. Especially during the COVID-19 era.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced Chicago's first-ever citywide celebration of graduating seniors via a video of herself dancingposted to TikTok the most recent in a series of viral social media posts that Lightfoot's office has used to encourage residents to stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak. More than than 22,000 Chicagoans have been infected; 962 have died.
In an exclusive one-on-one interview with USA TODAY, the Chicago mayor talked about the challenges of battling COVID-19 on the political front lines and her personal experience of the outbreak.
Lightfoot, 57, the Windy City's first black woman and first openly gay mayor, has gained national attention for effectively shepherding the nation's third-largest city through the crisis of a generation.Her humor and iron-fisted resolve have provided both welcome levity and comfort for many Chicagoanswatching the citys case count creep upward.
But in a city long dominated by a history of machine politics and mayoral boses, critics warn that Lightfoot is capitalizing on the crisis to consolidate authority at City Hall.
For the new mayor navigating an impossible situation, the outbreak has meantthree months of seeing the inequities within her city laid bare. It'sbeen acrisis colored by loss, resilience and a letter written in orange marker.
"I have a range of emotions,"Lightfoot says. "People are stepping up in really amazing ways . . .But I also recognize that, just as our strength shines through, the vulnerabilities that we all knew about, that we've been working on for years in fact decades those are also flashing like a neon sign."
In Chicago and Detroit: Coronavirus spares one neighborhood but ravages the next. Race and class spell the difference.
Chicago has been held up as an example of how the outbreak is disproportionately affecting communities of color. The city gained national attention in early April when it reported that more than half of its coronavirus patients and about 70% of COVID-19 deaths were among African Americans, even though black Chicagoans make up just 30% of the citys population.
At the time, the city didn't have information about the race or ethnicity of a quarter of all cases. Looking back on the few past months, Lightfoot said that's among her biggest regrets.
"Understanding the disparate impact is really important," Lightfoot said. "I wish we had demanded the demographic information compliance sooner."
Mayor Lori Lightfoot answers a reporters question during a news conference to provide an update to the latest efforts by the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team in Chicago on Monday.(Photo: Tyler LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
For thousands of Chicagoans, those case counts aren't just statistics they're family, friends, nurses, doctors. For Lightfoot, it was a man she had met last year whoworked with at-risk youth.
"He had underlying conditions, but nothing particularly serious, and was starting to recover, then literally overnight took a turn for the worst. It was shocking to me," Lightfoot said. "That he lost his life in that way, its very painful."
Lightfoot said a note that she received from a boy in her neighborhood has been giving her the strength to work through the pain.
"It was a very short, sweet letter, and he basically said he was writing to thank me for what we were doing in the city," she said. "Ive been carrying that around because that meant so much to me."
The humor's helped, too, Lightfoot said. When the mayor closed down the city's Lakefront Trail at the end of March, a local graphic artist photoshopped an image of Lightfoot, hands clasped and stony-faced,into a picture ofthe fenced off trail.
"It really just kind of took off from there," Lightfoot said. "We just decided to take the moment of humor to really burn in the necessity to stay home and save lives. The level of ingenuity of people in this city really knows no limits. Its been very fun."
Memes of Lightfoot standing watch outside houses, perched atop traffic lights, glaring through rear-view mirrors, ordering Jesus back into the cave on Easterand more have circulated online.
An Instagram account called "whereslightfoot" has nearly 60,000 followers. The trend is so popular, it's become self-referential.
If she had to pick, two memes stand out as favorites, Lightfoot said.
"It was pretty early on, somebody did a Wheel of Fortune that said 'Stay the F*** Home' that I still think about and laugh every time.It just caught me and made me laugh," she said. "I think the one thats probably truly my favorite, there's one where you know the bat signal that beams up with my face? I kind of feel like that. I need to be and hope I am the guardian of this city."
Criticssay they're getting that message loud and clear. Last week, during a raucous City Council meetingover Zoom complete with shouting and expletives aldermen criticized a proposal to grant Lightfoot'sadministration emergency powers to make decisions about COVID-related spending. Critics called the move a "power grab" by the mayor, who campaigned on rooting out corruption in City Hall.
The ordinance passed, with 21of 50 aldermen votingagainst the measure, including several aldermen representing communities disproportionately affected by the virus.
Democratic Socialist Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa voted against the ordinance, saying that it did not include oversight measures or guarantees that the emergency dollars would be prioritized for hardest hit communities.
"We have been told to trust this mayor,"Ramirez-Rosa said in the meeting. "Here in Chicago, weve seen the disastrous effect of when we trust the mayor to be Chicagos sole decision-maker and authority."
Echoing a critique of Lightfoot commonly heard amid last fall's 11-day teacher's strike, Ramirez-Rosa said that "when it comes to this mayor, you have got to put it in writing."
"We cannot go back to the times of one mayor overseeing everything and a rubber-stamp council," said Ald.Byron Sigcho Lopez.
As Lightfoot turns her focus toward a gradual reopening of the city, June 1 looms large in her mind. Last week, the mayor put together a team of local officials, business leaders and activists to advise her on plans for recovery.
"First of all, were going to be doing a change study. Were looking at uncovering the effect of COVID across a lot of sectors economic, but what I call the social fabric, how this has impacted individuals, neighborhoods, communities," Lightfoot said. "The goal is to have a final report by June 1. So its a sprint."
Lightfoot said that in addition to a focus on policy and economic recovery, the task force plans to have working groups focused on regional cooperation and mental and emotional health. The groups were developing a process to get public feedback, she said.
"We want to think very thoughtfully about what a staged reopening looks like," she said. "Because its not going to look the same as it did in February, pre-COVID. Its just not. Not until we get a vaccine thats viable. So its turning on the dimmer light and not flipping the switch."
When will US reach 100,000 deaths?After a horrific April, grim milestone could hit in May
Autoplay
Show Thumbnails
Show Captions
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/02/some-flash-and-some-social-media-chicagos-mayor-battles-covid-19/3068658001/
Read this article:
- Coronavirus: over 70% of critical care patients in UK are men - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Cholera and coronavirus: why we must not repeat the same mistakes - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- 'If your child is hungry, you will eat your rulers to feed your children' - CNN [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Millions Had Risen Out of Poverty. Coronavirus Is Pulling Them Back. - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Where did it go wrong for the UK on coronavirus? - CNN [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Potential coronavirus vaccine being tested in Germany could 'supply millions' by end of year - CNN [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- The pandemic and the influencer: will the lifestyle survive coronavirus? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Why Georgia Is Reopening Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Has Sweden's coronavirus strategy played into the hands of nationalists? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Coronavirus memes: These AI-generated memes are better than ones created by humans - Vox.com [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Coronavirus spares one neighborhood but ravages the next. Race and class spell the difference. - USA TODAY [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Life in Trumps Coronavirus Ghetto - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- The Gates aren't pinning their coronavirus hopes on the U.S. - Politico [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- New Coronavirus Test Offers Advantages: Just Spit and Wait - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Coronavirus is advancing in L.A., retreating in Bay Area - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Trump Brings Religion Into the Coronavirus Culture War - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Number of coronavirus cases from second warship outbreak nears 100 as Navy restricts information on pandemic - CNN [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- We the People, in Order to Defeat the Coronavirus - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- How Coronavirus Mutates and Spreads - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Coronavirus pandemic in the US: Live updates - CNN [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- The Coronavirus Still Is a Global Health Emergency, W.H.O. Warns - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- No leadership and no plan: is Trump about to fail the US on coronavirus testing? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Midwest: Coronavirus-Related Restrictions And Reopenings - NPR [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- How New Mexico Flattened the Coronavirus Curve - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2020]
- Rashes, headaches, tingling: the less common coronavirus symptoms that patients have - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- Coronavirus Survivors Want Answers, and China Is Silencing Them - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- Coronavirus numbers explained: Why Odisha is seeing a spike in new cases - The Indian Express [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- New Studies Add to Evidence that Children May Transmit the Coronavirus - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- In the Fight to Treat Coronavirus, Your Lungs Are a Battlefield - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- New evidence indicates coronavirus was infecting people in Europe and the US before the first official cases were reported - CNN [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- How Will the Coronavirus Change Us? - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- Coronavirus daily news updates, May 9: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the nation - Seattle Times [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- Coronavirus threatens a guarded tradition for many black Americans: Voting in person - CNN [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- Youll Probably Never Know If You Had the Coronavirus in January - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- What We Know About Coronavirus Mutations : Goats and Soda - NPR [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- US falls short in coronavirus testing in some areas of the country - CNN [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- Three Children Have Died in N.Y. of Illness Linked to Virus: Live Updates - The New York Times [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2020]
- Things feel so dark, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says on riots, coronavirus and Midland flooding - MLive.com [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Covid-19: will the governments mixed messages lead to another surge? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- The World Is Still Far From Herd Immunity for Coronavirus - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- How a decade of privatisation and cuts exposed England to coronavirus - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Teaching in the time of coronavirus: Finding creative ways to engage students - The San Diego Union-Tribune [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- These Athletes Had the Coronavirus. Will They Ever Be the Same? - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Battered by Coronavirus Outbreak, NYC Finally Moves Toward Reopening - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Coronavirus Showed How Globalization Broke the World - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- In Some Nations, Coronavirus Is Only One of Many Outbreaks - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Coronavirus FAQs: Is It Safer To Fly Or Drive? Is Air Conditioning A Threat? - NPR [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Coronavirus: The mystery of 'silent spreaders' - BBC News [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Utah sees another spike in coronavirus cases, third big day in a row - Salt Lake Tribune [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Its Not Whether You Were Exposed to the Coronavirus. Its How Much. - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- A second wave of coronavirus: When it could come, how long it could last and more - CNET [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Growing Data Show Blacks And Latinos Bear The Brunt Of COVID-19 : Shots - Health News - NPR [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Minneapolis, the Coronavirus, and Trumps Failure to See a Crisis Coming - The New Yorker [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Utah is averaging more than 200 new coronavirus cases a day over the past week as hot spots flare up from Logan to St. George - Salt Lake Tribune [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Just 2.3% of new coronavirus test results in Wisconsin were positive the lowest on record - Green Bay Press Gazette [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Coronavirus Testing: Should I Go For It Even If I Have No Symptoms? : Goats and Soda - NPR [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2020]
- Coronavirus in Florida: What you need to know Sunday, June 21 - TCPalm [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- ESPYS honoree Kim Clavel took a break from boxing to fight coronavirus - CNN [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Iceland now feels like the coronavirus never happened - CNN [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Lessons on Coronavirus Testing From the Adult Film Industry - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Pence Misleadingly Blames Coronavirus Spikes on Rise in Testing - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Putin has a 'disinfection tunnel,' Sweden feels isolated over coronavirus - CNBC [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Texas Governor Says 'No Reason Today To Be Alarmed' As Coronavirus Cases Set Record - NPR [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- What it means to come into close contact with a coronavirus case and your risk of infection - CNBC [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus runs through crowded homes and must-do jobs, hitting people of color hard - San Francisco Chronicle [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- NJ hits top ranking in coronavirus analysis, showing positive trends and signs of hope - NorthJersey.com [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus surges arent linked to one single cause - The Register-Guard [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Tens of thousands of Britons have died from coronavirus. But Boris Johnson is stoking a culture war. - CNN [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- High risk of coronavirus second wave as Australian shops and workplaces reopen, report says - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Florida sets another single-day coronavirus case record with nearly 4,000 infections - Tampa Bay Times [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- U.S. banks are 'swimming in money' as deposits increase by $2 trillion amid the coronavirus - CNBC [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus shuts down Crowbar, the Orpheum and Skippers Smokehouse - Tampa Bay Times [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Global report: Trump says he ordered coronavirus testing to 'slow down' - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Russia reopens ahead of Victory Day and Putin referendum -- but coronavirus threat remains - CNN [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- In Beijing it looked like coronavirus was gone. Now we're living with a second wave - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus Live News and Updates - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2020]
- Flushing the Toilet May Fling Coronavirus Aerosols All Over - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Coronavirus: What's happening around the world Monday - CBC.ca [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- Coronavirus could die out on its own, according to Italian expert: Report - silive.com [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]
- The Latest: Surge in U.S. virus cases raises fear that progress is slipping - Press Herald [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2020]