Cameron Barnes is a 24-year-old rising national leader in Chicago, with a passionate fuel for activism and a goal to unify humanity. A Class of 2020 graduate of Central State University, earning a BS in Marketing, Cameron has previously served as the National Youth Director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, working alongside his mentor, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. With the unique opportunity to serve in that capacity, he used it to travel the country pushing the mission of PUSH to today’s generation, which is simply to “Protect, Defend and Gain Civil Rights!” Cameron is also an associate minister of New Faith Missionary Baptist Church of Chicago, a General Board Member of the non-profit youth empowerment organization You Matter 2, Inc. and a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
In September of 2022, Cameron launched this campaign for Alderman of the 9th Ward, where he has been a life-long resident. Having traveled the country to fight battles from coast to coast and feeling guilty seeing the dilapidation of his own neighborhood upon every return home, Cameron forsook his role as National Youth Director, resigned and opted to pursue a local and more personal position in the seat of Alderman of the 9th Ward.
Cameron identifies as a public servant and not a politician, and is very interested in bringing the community of which he is from, along with all surrounding areas, to a greater sense of comradery, safety and economic development. The platform of this campaign is the platform of Cameron’s life: to cultivate opportunity through new leadership. The ancient ways of politics over people, back door deals and personal interests will only continue to spiral our livelihoods downward even further, we must act now to stop gentrification of our communities, promote not only quality, but also modern and innovative education through coding, robotics, STEAM, and trades, and invest in programs that can finally create generational wealth in the Black community. We must thrive now, more than ever! This is not a campaign only for the seat of 9th ward alderman, this is a campaign to uplift the moral standard of our far-south side community as a whole!
Cameron’s immediate vision for the 9th Ward can be summed up in 3 points: (1) Revitalization without Gentrification (2) Education Innovation and (3) Reprioritize Resource Allocation. Here is our plan: