Equity and Transformation (EAT) is a left-progressive nonprofit organization that advocates for expanded government-controlled social programs for unemployed individuals in Chicago. EAT advocates for policy that is designed to implement so-called racial equity based on the alleged exclusion of African Americans from the labor force. ¹

EAT organizes protests against alleged instances of police brutality against African Americans and supports defunding the police. EAT has argued that African Americans are inherently disadvantaged in America. ²

Background

Equity and Transformation was founded in 2018 by former convicts in Chicago to provide labor representation for African American individuals who work in the “informal economy.” It describes the informal economy as the labor force of individuals who can be considered legally unemployed while making money outside of regulated businesses, including through criminal activity. ³

EAT advocates for far-left labor policy. Leaders from EAT have claimed that capitalism, the criminal justice system, and the public health system cause economic disparities between African Americans and white people. EAT advocates for left-of-center government intervention to ensure that African Americans achieve the same social and economic outcomes as white Americans. ⁴

EAT performs research to support its advocacy, focusing on Chicago’s unemployed African American population. EAT surveys unemployed African Americans in Chicago and uses its results to argue that systemic racism exists and damages all African Americans. To remedy the alleged problems, EAT has argued for an increase in government funding for social programs, the implementation of government-controlled healthcare, and the abandonment of capitalism to rectify racial disparities. ⁵

Campaigns

EAT’s primarily campaign is the Guaranteed Income Pilot Project, which presents a model to allegedly create racial equality. The project provides $500 a month to over 50 former convicts in one Chicago neighborhood in order to demonstrate the supposed benefits of a guaranteed basic income, which pays all people an automatic monthly sum using taxpayer dollars. The campaign has also called for increased funding for social programs to come from defunding police. ⁶

EAT has received funding from the left-of-center Movement for Black Lives in support of its Breathe Act Illinois and Freedom Summer campaigns. Both campaigns advocate for left-wing policies, including defunding the police, prison system, and other law enforcement institutions. ⁷

Leadership

Richard Wallace is the founding executive director of Equity and Transformation. Wallace is a far-left activist, especially on left-progressive racial and social issues. Wallace has criticized the American labor market for allegedly excluding African Americans from participation, which he claims has forced them into criminal activity. Wallace has argued that white individuals are inherently advantaged in the American economy and that current government-run social and economic equality initiatives are not nearly comprehensive extensive to create equity. ⁸

Financials

In 2020, EAT received a grant worth over “six figures” from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ⁹

1. “About Us.” EAT Chicago. Accessed June 12, 2021. https://www.eatchicago.org/about-us.
2. Pascalsabino. “20 Black-Led Chicago Groups You Can Donate To Now To Make A Difference In Black Lives.” Block Club Chicago. Block Club Chicago, June 8, 2020. https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/06/05/10-black-led-chicago-groups-you-can-donate-to-now-to-make-a-difference-in-black-lives/.
3. “Survival Economy Report.” EAT Chicago. Accessed June 14, 2021. https://www.eatchicago.org/survival-economy-report.
4. Moore, Natalie. “Survival Economics: High Unemployment Pushes Black Chicagoans Into Informal Jobs.” WBEZ Chicago. WBEZ Chicago, January 25, 2021. https://www.wbez.org/stories/survival-economics-high-unemployment-pushes-black-chicagoans-into-informal-jobs/98d4d918-6f36-48c7-9576-82f1394d6c2d.
5. “Survival Economy Report.” EAT Chicago. Accessed June 14, 2021. https://www.eatchicago.org/survival-economy-report.
6. “Campaigns & Programs.” EAT Chicago. Accessed June 14, 2021. https://www.eatchicago.org/campaigns-programs.
7. “Campaigns & Programs.” EAT Chicago. Accessed June 14, 2021. https://www.eatchicago.org/campaigns-programs.
8. Contributor. “How to Make Recreational Pot Business Fairer to Black and Brown Entrepreneurs.” Times. Chicago Sun-Times, October 22, 2019. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/22/20927133/illinois-recreational-cannabis-pot-marijuana-minority-ownership-hb1438-richard-wallace.
9. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. “BLACK LIVES MATTER 2020 IMPACT REPORT.” Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, 2021. https://blacklivesmatter.com/2020-impact-report/.