Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the change Chicago needs

Bravo Chicago. You’ve finally elected an intelligent, go-to person, not a machine candidate.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot seems to have the tenacity and temperament to listen, muster the troops, and hopefully sway the city in a positive way. Her election as mayor proves that sometimes, the voters get it and vote with their heads and hearts, not with their heads in the sand.

A Sun-Times editorial included a list of less-than-competent city leaders of the past, a great step forward.

Time will tell if Lightfoot will be a shining light for the city, and hopefully not the usual rubber-stamp politician like the ones who gave Chicago its tarnished image in the past.

Best to Mayor Lightfoot!

Richard J. White, Elmhurst

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Young people, not Emanuel, sparked police reform

Your retrospective on changes in the Chicago Police Department stated that “while more than 4,300 people were murdered in Chicago during Emanuel’s eight years as mayor, the changes were largely spurred by the death of one person: Laquan McDonald.”

What a masterpiece of the passive voice.

That makes it sound like the agency for change was either no one in particular, or worse, it implies it was Rahm Emanuel who made the changes.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If Emanuel, the Chicago law department, and a host of police brass had their way, McDonald would have been largely forgotten. Another black youth shot dead by police, remembered mainly by his friends and family.

But thanks to courageous citizen journalists, attorneys, and a Cook County judge, the video showing the police murder of McDonald that Emanuel, et al tried so hard to suppress was instead revealed.

Then the main agency of change stepped into the picture: Thousands of youth, led by black youth, flooding the streets of our city.

They successfully rebranded Emanuel, then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and fired CPD Supt. Garry McCarthy with “16 Shots & a Cover-Up,” forcing their retirement from Chicago politics and policing.

It’s the whole reason we had the first truly open mayoral election in decades.

Please don’t re-write history.

Give credit to the youth, where credit is due.

Andy Thayer, Uptown

Protect Illinois women from abortion restrictions

Legislators, please do what we elected you to do: Protect the women of Illinois and pass the Reproductive Health Act now!

Grace Newton, Lincoln Park

America at a dangerous crossroads

Corrupt elected federal politicians and executive political appointees are the acid now corroding our democracy, to the long-term detriment of everything our country stands for.

Congress must be allowed to act on its constitutionally granted oversight responsibilities.

The Trump administration in its entirety must conduct itself so that Americans can trust in due process under current law.

We are at a dangerous crossroads.

Mary F. Warren, Wheaton