Karen Lewis, former president of the Chicago Teachers Union, dies at 67
On February 7, Karen Lewis, the former president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), died at the age of 67. Lewis, who retained the title of CTU president emerita, had been diagnosed in October 2014 with glioblastoma, a type of aggressive brain cancer. She officially stepped down from her union role in 2018, turning the office over to CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey, who had been named acting president after Lewis’ diagnosis.
Lewis’ death prompted an outpouring of sympathy and warm recollections from the corporate media, fellow union officials and others. Stacy Davis Gates, the current CTU vice president, referred to her as “the most transformative leader that the city has seen in this century.” Jacobin, the semi-official publication of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has posted no less than four articles on Lewis as of this writing, while failing to post a single article on last week’s
The Chicago-born singer-songwriter beat the odds by turning her debut album,
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Sign up for our newsletters Subscribe Art is what I m meant to do, KeiyaA says. But I also want this to be a way for me to build a strong foundation and legacy that doesn t have to be attached to me working for somebody else. AnAkA for Chicago Reader Polyester! KeiyaA says, laughing. The uniforms were so thick and dense. We re in what she calls the studio room of her Bushwick apartment, reminiscing about singing in the Chicago Children s Choir. Hanging on the wall behind her is a white pegboard adorned with an assortment of audio cables. KeiyaA, 28, was in the choir till she was 12, but she tells me she doesn t remember much besides the red vests of their performance uniforms and the dimly lit church (First U
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I don’t remember the people who led the Chicago Teachers Union right before Karen Lewis. But when Lewis took over the reins in 2010, it was clear she would be memorable.
It was as if Jackie Vaughn, the legendary labor union activist, was reincarnated. Vaughn was the first African-American and first woman to head the third largest teachers union.
Critics, politicians and editorial boards didn’t intimidate either woman. Ironically, both women led the union through some tough negotiations even as they were battling serious illness.
Lewis developed brain cancer in 2014, just as she was contemplating a mayoral run. Her passing was announced Monday.
Karen Lewis, Firebrand Former Chicago Teachers Union President, Dead at 67 Subscribe By Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, John Byrne & Juan Perez Jr., Chicago Tribune February 08, 2021 9 min read
Karen Lewis, former president of the Chicago Teachers Union, listens to a question after a meeting of the union s House of Delegates in Chicago on Sept. 14, 2012. The union confirmed Lewis death on Monday. She was 67.Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Share article Copy URL
Karen Lewis, the firebrand former Chicago Teachers Union president who led a seven-day strike in 2012 and was a one-time mayoral hopeful who was unable to run for office because of a cancer diagnosis in October 2014, has died, the CTU confirmed Monday. She was 67.