Could a guaranteed income pave the way for racial justice?

Rachel Pyon is the research director at Equity and Transformation, a non-profit community organisation working to mobilise Chicago’s informal workforce. She also manages the Chicago Future Fund, a guaranteed income programme for formerly incarcerated people. Deon Hodrick is a recipient of the Chicago Future Fund and a guaranteed income advocate. And Matthew Harvey is a research assistant and storyteller at Equity and Transformation.

We caught up with them at the 22 nd Basic Income Guarantee Conference in San Francisco, California to discuss how their work is helping to support formerly incarcerated people and grow community through a guaranteed basic income.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Beyond Trafficking and Slavery: What does a guaranteed income mean to each of you?

Deon Hodrick: Being a recipient of the guaranteed income programme, it means a lot. The income helped me do things that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to do for my family. It's been very important.

Matthew Harvey: For me, a guaranteed income means freedom. A lot of people’s time and energies are focused on their finances and surviving day to day. This takes some of that worry away. It allows someone to take time off if they have to, or prevents someone from choosing between eating and paying the bills. That kind of freedom is irreplaceable.

Rachel Pyon: For me, guaranteed income is a tool for restorative justice. It's an opportunity to acknowledge the historic harms that have been done and reinvest money in the communities that need it most.

BTS: What is the Chicago Future Fund and how does it work?

Rachel: The fund was born out of Richard Wallace's vision. He’s the founder of Equity and Transformation, and he was already giving out mutual aid during the pandemic. We were looking to provide something a bit more permanent and regular, so we built this programme. It launched in 2021 with a focus on supporting formerly incarcerated individuals.

Initially we identified 30 people in West Garfield Park, a neighbourhood in Chicago's west side. We gave them $500 a month for 18 months. Later we expanded the programme to 100 folks living in the west side and the south side, giving $500 a month for one year.

Both those programmes have now come to an end. We’re now working on the evaluation report for the second round. We're also pivoting towards more city and statewide advocacy, in order to secure public funding for permanent guaranteed income programmes.

Matthew: Our group is focused on community organising. That really encouraged us to build a relationship with our participants rather than simply treating them as recipients of a service. I think that set us on a path toward collaboration, and since the pilot has ended many of them have become advocates for this work.

Deon: The guaranteed income project brought a lot of benefits for me and my family. It meant I could keep up with my bills and support my children. I also gained a brother or sister in certain people, and we made connections and shared information. We helped each other out.

The only way to repair [the legacy of chattel slavery] is reparations. Otherwise, we're going to keep putting band-aids on top of bullet wounds. And we're going to keep watching people bleed out

BTS: It seems like you’re all really invested in community building as well as just cash support. How do you think that sets you apart from other guaranteed income programmes?

Rachel: I think the difference is that guaranteed income was never our end goal. All our work is centred around uplifting formerly incarcerated individuals and people who are engaged in the informal economy. So we wanted to make sure we weren’t just giving out cash. We wanted to directly invest in people.

That means bringing them into our larger programming, making sure they stay involved, and giving them the tools to do it themselves. We want to support people to become leaders so they can continue this work on a larger scale.

Matthew: I would add that our results are a little different to other programmes. I've heard that some projects struggle with retention. They tend to see a drop off in engagement over time. But because we're very intentional about empowering our people, they’re eventually able to do more for themselves, and they stay involved.

Deon: For me, it ended up not being about the money. I’m involved in so many community events now. We’re just trying to build our community up at the end of the day.

BTS: This sounds like really important work. What does this kind of support mean for formerly incarcerated individuals and informal workers?

Matthew: Our goal is to eventually win real protections for people who do informal work, because we recognise them as vital to the economy. When you go to any city, you're going to run into informal workers. They're involved in the city's civic landscape.

By centring and supporting them, we’ve been able to focus on this work that's not necessarily sanctioned by the state. We’re working with a group of people who have historically been afforded no rights or protections, and we’re supporting them to get the rights and protections that they deserve.

BTS: How do you see this tying into wider reparations for the US’s long history of racial injustice?

Deon: I see the guaranteed income programme as a kind of blueprint for reparations. It’s a good place to start from.

Matthew: Reparations are about justice. We’re engaged in thinking about how this country can make amends for the extensive harms done to Black people through chattel slavery.

There are so many ongoing effects, whether it’s endemic violence, or unemployment, or low wages. These dynamics come from a historical landscape that can't be changed. And from here on out, the only way to repair that is reparations. Otherwise, we're going to keep putting band-aids on top of bullet wounds. And we're going to keep watching people bleed out.

BTS: It sounds like there’s a lot of love and care in the work that you’re doing. Can you tell me about the ethics guiding your work?

Matthew: I love the community. It feels like the work we’re doing is so valuable – more than in any other job I’ve done. So yes, love is central to what I do. And when people see that we really care about them and their betterment, it's easy to bring community members in.

Deon: I think injecting money into a community is a good way to start because it grabs everybody's attention. But once you interact with the people and start getting involved, it overpowers any financial gain. It starts to translate into how you help your own people too.

Rachel: Talking about love can sound so corny, but it really is at the heart of the work that we do. I think for us, it's about meeting people where they're at. Working with folks directly in the community, we start off not knowing them, or where they are in their journeys. As an organisation, we’re committed to helping them move forward in their journeys, whatever that looks like for them.

For me, the most rewarding thing has been hearing from people like Deon, who tell us that the money was great, but what really made a difference was feeling seen and cared for. This is especially important when it comes to formerly incarcerated folks, who have been pretty neglected, especially in the guaranteed income space. To be told: “we care about you, we believe in you. We want to invest in you and your family and your dreams”. That's extremely powerful.

The only way we can move this forward is by making it something bigger than just our corner of the city

BTS: These are really moving reflections. So, where does the programme go from here?

Rachel: After two rounds of providing cash, we decided to conclude the programme and shift our efforts towards city and statewide advocacy. Running these programmes by ourselves takes a lot of work and money. And ultimately, if true reparations are to happen, they should come from the government.

Right now, we're working with the city of Chicago to implement their guaranteed income pilot, the Chicago Empowerment Fund. Their programme will prioritise applicants who are impacted by the legal system. We're also looking to continue our reparations work on a statewide level, including trying to use cannabis tax revenue to fund direct cash for survivors of the war on drugs.

Matthew: The work of our community members is really key to this. The only way we can move this forward is by making it something bigger than just our corner of the city. We’re bringing people into this movement, and helping them gain the confidence to speak up about it themselves.

Rachel: It's important to uplift the voices of the community members and folks involved, and to give them the tools to advocate for themselves. I don't want to be the one to tell their story. I want them to be able to tell the stories themselves.

BTS: And Deon, as one of those community members, how has this experience been for you?

Deon: It’s made me feel like a revolutionary. I'm involved in a Black wellness class. I'm doing things that I wouldn’t normally do, I’m helping out with community events and doing things for the betterment of my community.

I’m just trying to do the right thing and support the community in the best way I can. That's all I could do, because I'm only now really getting my feet wet. I'm learning about certain things I was not savvy about. It’s been a good experience.

Explore the rest of the series

This series looks at the specific challenges that campaigners face when arguing for universal basic income in highly individualised and neoliberal contexts like the United States and the United Kingdom, and how they work to overcome them.