It has been decades, unfortunately, since the Polish-American community in Chicagoland has held a strong political position. In the 1960s numerous Polish names were seen on lists of Board of Directors, Aldermen, and as other city and county officials. Now, it seems, that those positions go unnoticed to the eye of the Polish American Community in Chicago, and the candidates rarely gather enough support within their ethnic group to run for a specific chair. Due to an energetic group of motivated individuals with Polish heritage this might change in the months and years to come.

Young Polish Initiative is a group conceived in the beginning of 2007 by few motivated activists, who noticed the obvious lack of involvement of Polish Americans in the political life. Their vigor and energy have been so contagious that now the group has tripled their membership and meets regularly on weekly basis. Their goal is to catalyze the community to have a more active approach within the democratic process mostly through education; strengthen the Position of Polish Americans; and fights for the overall social justice.

In the past months, YPI has been involved in the efforts to support immigrant rights in the United States, a nation which for years has been perceived as a land of opportunity. They have concentrated their attention on this heated debate through meetings with Representatives Emanuel and Guitierrez, protests by Congressman Lipinski’s office, lobbying in Springfield, just to name a few.

In the upcoming weeks, YPI will concentrate its efforts toward a program called “Know your rights.” In the last weeks, ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement) has stormed without a warrant into many small and privately owned businesses arresting their workers, prosecuting them and starting the deportation process for those whose visas have expired. The program aims at educating the public that every person in the United States has some basic constitutional rights including a right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer.

More information about upcoming events can be gained by writing to the members of Young Polish Initiative at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it