DNC Chicago 2024

Chicago Tribune photo

Haven't really had the time to watch the DNC this week. Got a lot going on at home right now.

I did at least see Doug Emhoff, Michelle Obama and former Pres. Barack Obama speak last night. Will share at a later time.

I also understand that IL Gov. J.B. Pritzker spoke last night at the DNC will also share that.

On Monday Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke to the DNC. And also so did outgoing President Joe Biden who dropped out of the 2024 race just last month.

Of course all of our local politicians - especially the high profile ones - will be speaking at a nat'l political convention. From Governor on down. However, expect me to share remarks by the Vice President's running mate MN Gov. Tim Walz and of course Vice Pres. Kamala Harris.

How these usually go Walz will likely speak tonight and then the Vice President will speak on Thursday night , the last evening of the convention.

Thankfully there weren't a lot of problems outside of the convention. I see police were shown in riot gear and of course arrests were made because well some people don't mind pushing the limits. People were expecting Chicago to be out of control and I'm not seeing that yet.

Then again admittedly I'm not following a lot of coverage on whatever protests are going on. Let's hope things don't go to out of control. However, I'm encouraged that Chicago Police will step in before things go too crazy.

CBS Chicago: Former POTUS Obama honored with historical marker in Springfield.

 

[VIDEO] In 2007, then US Sen. Barack Obama announced his successful campaign for President of the United states at the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Of course as we know Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. Another historical note in the above TV report from WBBM-TV, Abraham Lincoln started his road to the White House from this same building. It was here in this building that he served in the Illinois General Assembly.

Well if I ever go to Springfield this is one sight I want to visit and share on my YouTube channel.

Inauguration Day

UPDATE 10:36 PM - I had to change the location of watching Obama's first inaugural to Douglass Hall - this is where Morehouse students would go and study. It would bother me to leave that minor detail in this post.

Today Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th P.O.T.U.S. and this election was very contentious and sadly culminated in the riots that took place at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. We're still in unprecedented times with this pandemic and now we have a new chief of state to move us forward once again.

It causes me to remember another historic occasion which was the election of his former boss the 44th P.O.T.U.S Barack Obama. I was still at Morehouse College at the time and watched the inauguration on TV in Mays Douglass Hall at the time. I was a bit older than many of the students there and perhaps a bit more jaded.

Morehouse

Well it wasn't lost upon me that America had just elected an African-American as President a man of Kenyan descent a man who formerly represented in the IL General Assembly a large swath of an urban area from the skyscrapers of downtown to largely Black neighborhoods. It wasn't lost upon me that many of the young people who were in school at the time in the Atlanta University Center were celebrating the election of someone who looked like them as our Chief of State. It also wasn't lost upon me that there were unprecedented times with the financial meltdown back then.

And I felt even more jaded when an older lady who worked at Mays Douglass Hall made us stand up as Obama took the oath of office as she wanted us to give President Obama his due respect. Later when I graduated then Morehouse President Robert Franklin made sure to note to us that we graduated with a P.O.T.U.S. who looked like us.

And today and the lead up the atmosphere is different. The grounds around the U.S. Capitol was surrounded by a heavy presence of not only police but National Guard troops from around the country. I wonder what the polls say about those voters who think there was fraud - though largely unproven - in the 2020 election. I wonder what the polls say about the uncertainty of what the new President will bring to the table for the next four years.

I had those same questions about Obama, for my tastes he was never an executive. He served barely four years as a U.S. Senator and I don't know of any committees he's chaired. Obama was without a doubt a charismatic leader with great oratory, but in my mind I had little idea what he could bring to the table. 

However back in 2009 and up to now I always hope for the best. [VIDEO]

If you want to know why I included My Country tis of Thee, this is the anthem we sung before assemblies when I was in grammar school.

Oh and a trip to the U.S. Capitol needs to be featured on The Sixth Ward YouTube channel. Hmmmm. 🤔

Update on the restore the #63rdL petition...

[VIDEO] I wanted to replay this video in light of this online petition launched this summer to restore the East 63rd Green Line east from Cottage Grove. In January 2013 artistmac posted a video driving from Morgan/63rd east to Stony Island. To keep this vid germane this video should start at about 4:25. The total duration is over 9 minutes.

When the L was destroyed beyond Cottage Grove the neighborhood was likely much different than it is now. The East 63rd corridor was very blighted and largely vacant though in the past decade there has been construction with single family houses. Then fairly recently driving through I see a building under construction at 63rd & University - once the site of an L stop.

As of now it appears the CTA while a spokesperson at first said they're always looking to explore expanding service also indicated extending East 63rd green line service to Stony Island isn't currently in the cards. Just click on this tweet by Curbed Chicago for more information.

CTA says it has ‘no plans’ to restore Green Line service to Jackson Park https://t.co/sKDda8kfWS

— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) August 21, 2017

The petition started by Reuben Lillie earlier this summer as of Tuesday has 743 signatures per the statistics shown on the petition page. My personal appeal if you support extending the red line past 95th then also consider supporting the restoration of East 63rd green line service to Stony Island. Tourists and Chicago resident should have much easier access to the future Barack Obama Presidential Library.

And while the petition is linked above I'll post this tweet below to make it easier for you to add your name to this also.

Thanks. This one's for all of us. It's time to make plans and get community input in the proper order: https://t.co/HeCwRIaZ39

— Restore the #63rdL (@63rdStL) August 22, 2017

Marathon Pundit visits Pullman

Crossposted from The Sixth Ward

Hotel Florence by John Ruberry

John Ruberry of Marathon Pundit takes a look at the Pullman neighborhood and any progress made on the national monument here. Ruberry doesn't have much faith that the federal government will make far more progress here than the state government had. The state actually owns the Hotel Florence that you see above which is waiting for a new use.

He goes through the history of this neighborhood and any governmental role in the future of this neighborhood. Including the purchase of select property such as the Pullman factory, adminstrative buildings and the clock tower. Those in addition to the Hotel Florence.

He also noted the Bernie Sanders signs throughout the neighborhood. Sanders back in March lost the Illinois Democratic presidential primary to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but we see one strong enclave of Sanders supporters. I even noted a sign on our ig page.

Ruberry has some strong opinions on what's going on here. Anyone want to agree or disagree with the Marathon Pundit?

Pullman to become a national monument

Via The Chicago Neighborhoods

Great news for the south side, hopefully the surrounding areas will reap the benefits. And just in time for Black History Month, we also learn the pivotal role of Pullman for Black history via Chicago Tribune. Especially since Pullman's main employer was a manufacturer of rail cars that had been staffed with blacks once these cars were on the rails.

Of course let's not forget labor history. Pullman was a site of a major strike once that saw federal troops intervene. Also the mainly Black Pullman porters agitated successfully for a union even if most of them didn't call Pullman home.

I forgot to note that next week, Pullman will be declared a national monument. I'd be excited to see what this development will bring! :)

CSU Presidential Library Support Requested

We were aware of some meetings regarding the future Barack Obama Presidential Library as it pertains to Chicago State University. While Mayor Rahm Emanuel is encouraging a single bid for the city to become home to a library many sites in Chicago are seeking one especially the President's former employer University of Chicago.

You can check out Curbed Chicago's coverage of Obama's Presidential Library Chicago State's bid for the library. The contents of the e-mail you will see below.

AP: Multiple groups vie for Obama's Presidential Library

President Barack Obama

The AP has a story about the many groups here in Chicago who are vying for their particular insitutions or neighborhoods to become home of the President's future library. Those sites include Bronzeville, Chicago State University, University of Chicago, Pullman, and even that former US Steel site on the southeast lakefront. In the case of Chicago State and Pullman:

There are also two potential bids on the Far South Side, one led by Chicago State University and the other by a group promoting the historic Pullman neighborhood. It was in those areas that Obama established his earliest roots in the city as a community organizer in the mid-1980s, setting up job training programs and defending the rights of public housing tenants.
...
The Far South Side is a longshot given its distance from downtown, lack of transportation options and the gang violence that persists there.

And presidential libraries aren't guaranteed to lift the local economy.

So far the main competitors are:

The main point of tension is between the University of Chicago, where Obama spent 12 years as a constitutional law professor until his 2004 election to the U.S. Senate, and a group advocating for Bronzeville, the city's historic center of black culture, business and politics.

"They think that they can get whatever they want," Bronzeville organizer Harold Lucas said of the university. "If you compare the cranes in the sky and that opulent growth of this university to the surrounding, predominantly African-American community, it's a travesty. It's a clear tale of two cities."

Lucas and other critics of the university's bid say the school has been secretly working its White House connections at the expense of a plan that would benefit more of the city and honor the black community's role in electing the nation's first black president.

For its part, the university says it wants to work with neighbors on a plan to build the library off-campus in a part of the South Side where it can spur development. A university spokesman declined to comment beyond the school's previous statements. 

We already know that Mayor Emanuel wants to submit only a unified bid for Obama's Presidential Library so the various groups need to come up with a good bid. And bear in mind one point of this article, "presidential libraries aren't guaranteed to life the local economy". That being said the library could easily either go to Hawaii where Presient Obama was born or to New York so time will only tell if Chicago will eventually succeed in its bid.