10 Things You Didn’t Know about Lori Lightfoot

Lori Lightfoot is an American lawyer turned politician. Currently, most people will be most familiar with her because she is the Mayor of Chicago, who has been showing up in a lot of Chicagoan memes because of her role in encouraging people in her city as well as her state to stay at home. Here are some things you do not know about the Chicago mayor.

1. Born and Raised in Massillon, OH

Lightfoot was both born and raised in Massillon, OH. In short, it is the smaller of the two cities that anchor the Canton-Massillon metropolitan area in Northeast Ohio. Like a lot of cities, Massillon started up because of its location, which made it suitable for serving as a port on the Ohio and Erie Canal. However, when the Ohio and Erie Canal was replaced in that regard by the railroad system, Massillon managed to continue on with minimal issue.

2. Very Involved in High School

To say that Lightfoot was very involved in high school can seem like an understatement. After all, she wasn’t just elected a class president three times but also a yearbook editor, a member of the Pep Club, a point guard on the basketball team, and a trumpet player in the school band. On top of that, it is interesting to note that Lightfoot was even one of the students who organized a boycott of the school’s lunch program because of its not so excellent pizza.

3. Studied Political Science At the University of Michigan

In time, Lightfoot went to the University of Michigan, which can claim the honor of being the first such institution founded in said state. There, she studied political science, which is the field focused upon political systems as well as the analysis of a wide range of political matters such as political activities, political behaviors, and political thoughts. As a result, Lightfoot graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Art in political science.

4. Funded Her Own Education

Like a lot of students, Lightfoot had to fund her own education by working in her offtime. However, it is interesting to note that she worked a total of seven jobs in order to do so, which says much of her industriousness. For example, Lightfoot was a resident assistant as well as a cook for the school’s football team. Likewise, she worked in factories in the summertime.

5. Chose Law Because She Wanted Financial Independence

Lightfoot spent some time working for a couple of members of Congress before making a choice to go to law school. Since her older brother was arrested in connection with a bank robbery when she was still at the University of Michigan, some people might be tempted to assume that there was some kind of a connection there. However, Lightfoot had a very practical reason for going to law school, which is that she wanted a career that could provide her with financial independence. In any case, her choice of law school was the University of Chicago Law School where she had received a full scholarship.

6. Led a Campaign to Ban a Law Firm’s Recruiters From Campus

Speaking of which, Lightfoot became more conscious of her race when she was at the University of Chicago even though she had come from a segregated town. Something that wasn’t helped by a succession of racial incidents that were either created by the law school’s administration or worsened by the same. Eventually, when one of Lightfoot’s friends spoke out about racist as well as misogynist comments made by a recruiter for a major law firm, she led a successful campaign to ban its recruiters from the campus. Something that was particularly impressive because the firm was one of the law school’s major benefactors.

7. Her Clients Became Something of an Issue During the Election

During the election, Lightfoot made an effort to position herself as a progressive candidate, which in turn, caused some people to scrutinize her list of clients when she was working as a lawyer at the Mayer Brown law firm. This was an issue because her clients included big corporations, Republican politicians, and individuals who had been accused of discrimination against African-Americans, none of which are popular with progressives to say the least. In particular, Lightfoot worked on a couple of lawsuits brought by Republicans that challenged congressional redistricting, which argued that the map was unfair for the Republican Party.

8. Brought Up Family History When Describing Her Motivation For Joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office

When describing her motivations for joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lightfoot mentioned a number of things. For example, she mentioned a need for more representation of people of color. Likewise, she mentioned how personal experience with a brother who had gone in and out of prison had provided her with insight on how crime could impact families. On top of this, Lightfoot brought up some of her family history, referring to how her grandmother’s husband had been murdered by a Klansman in the 1920s without any expectation that said individual would ever be brought to justice.

9. Has Taken the COVID-19 Crisis Very Seriously

In more recent times, Lightfoot has been an excellent example of the politicians who are taking the COVID-19 crisis very seriously. For example, she postponed St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, which was followed by an eventual ban on other events that involved more than 1,000 people. Likewise, she closed parks, trails, and beaches, which was a response to numerous reports of people violating the state’s stay-at-home order. Besides this, Lightfoot has also provided support to those involved in fighting the COVID-19 crisis, with an excellent example being the securing of 300 hotel rooms in downtown Chicago for first responders so that they wouldn’t have to put their families at risk by heading home.

10. Irritated By House Party

Very recently, Lightfoot expressed her irritation at hundreds of people at a huge house party that seemed to have happened at a Chicago residence. Her reasoning was simple and straightforward. In short, the more that people disobey the stay-at-home order, the more that the novel coronavirus will spread, thus slowing down the rate of recovery.