A rising star in Chicago’s progressive City Council, Fuentes shared her inspirational story on Thursday in hopes it will blaze a positive trail for young people making destructive choices. “I had pain and turned it into propane and just became an activist. I got lucky to have people who introduced me to a world of organizing and movement. It was a world that I had fallen in love with because that had become a place where I engaged in a process of healing,” Fuentes told the Sun-Times.