My father’s life intersected with the tumult of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in ways that I never fully appreciated or understood as a kid. My dad was a young beat cop during the 1968 convention. He had left his police sweater visible in the car, and protesters flipped over the car and set it on fire. Insurance didn’t cover damage from riots, regardless of who may have started them.
After that, he didn’t drive to work again and became a fixture running home along Archer Avenue in the middle of the night. And he bought only junk cars. My sister laughs as she remembers dodging traffic to pick up the hot muffler that had fallen off one such car. We sat in the back both terrified and mesmerized watching the road through the holes in the floor.
When someone needed to sign the arrest papers for a Black Panther, my father was told to step up and do it because he had the least seniority. Shortly after, he was run over while directing traffic. He eventually recovered and went back to work.
Then the calls started. Day and night. My mother would hear someone on the other end of the line describe what her kids had worn to school that day and how terrible it would be to see those outfits covered in blood. While my dad went to work at night, Mr. Haro, a neighbor, would keep guard with his shotgun. Mr. Haro was a Mexican immigrant. My mother was an Irish immigrant. They were family.
Chicago is a city of neighborhoods where neighbors, for those lucky enough, become family. Things got so bad that my father was encouraged to leave the country for a while. Because life goes full circle, I was represented in Congress by a former Black Panther, Bobby Rush. I always voted for him, even while wondering if he ever was one of the people who called my mother.
One need only drive around Chicago to understand the anger and rage that fueled those awful phone calls. My father understood this and served everyone with kindness and dignity. But here we are, 56 years later, and the world is still in turmoil.
My kids are kind, informed and thoughtful, as are so many of their generation. It gives me hope that one day we can all treat each other as my mother and Mr. Haro did.
— Marilyn Cosentino, Chicago
Abortion rights in Illinois
As we gather for the Democratic National Convention, it is clear that the Democratic Party is the only party dedicated not only to restoring the federal right to abortion but also to securing access to care. It is fitting that the DNC is taking place in Illinois — a critical access point for abortion seekers amid this public health crisis created by Donald Trump’s hand-picked Supreme Court majority.
It is essential to study how Illinois transformed from one of the most anti-abortion rights states in the country to one of the most welcoming states — for Illinoisans and for the medical refugees being forced to flee their home states in search of this essential health care.
This transformation happened because of action by organizers and legislators over many years. Our success provides a road map for others on how to restore and expand abortion rights.
Until recently, Illinois was the only state with a statewide political action committee solely dedicated to making abortion legal, safe and accessible. The work began in 1989 to lay the groundwork, elect pro-abortion rights candidates and then advocate for legislative changes to make Illinois one of the most pro-abortion rights states in the nation. Every constitutional officer in Illinois is in favor of abortion rights. And the organizing continues in local elections as well —school boards, mayors, prosecutors, city councils and county boards. We are educating voters and winning races at every level of local government.
Illinois receives the largest number of people seeking abortion care in the country. Last year, we took in more than 37,000 people. We have more work to do to expand Illinois’ capacity. But we are bolstered by the state of Illinois and city of Chicago, which have supported abortion providers and funds to increase that capacity while we help activists and advocates in other states build power and fight back against abortion restrictions.
Illinois had many of the same legal restrictions on abortion as these states do now when we started this work 35 years ago. We’re proud to host the DNC this week and to offer our allies across this country a model for what can be. And we stand ready to support organizers and legislators across the country in their work to restore their rights.
— Sarah Garza Resnick, CEO, Personal PAC, Chicago
Economy an important issue
It’s rather ironic that one of the Democrats’ key slogans is “democracy is on the ballot,” implying that electing Donald Trump would bring an end to our democracy, especially when candidate Kamala Harris’ economic proposals would actually bring us closer to a socialistic state. I realize the Democrats’ slogan implies that Trump would become a dictator, but an important issue for voters to consider is whether or not government solutions are the answer to all our economic issues. Price controls have been tried here and in many countries and have failed miserably.
Obviously, the economy and inflation are issues to consider. They are key ones.
— Dan Schuchardt, Glen Ellyn
Shutdown for motorcades
About 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, I tried to enter the southbound Tri-State Tollway near Hinsdale, but the entrance ramp was blocked by a state snowplow. There was no traffic flowing on the southbound tollway. After a few minutes, a huge motorcade appeared, escorted by dozens of police and emergency vehicles. It took a couple of minutes to pass. I expected the tollway to quickly reopen, but the snowplow did not budge. A few minutes later, a second motorcade appeared on the empty tollway, which reopened a short time after the second motorcade passed.
The pope was in Rome. The president was somewhere on the East Coast. The vice president was campaigning in Pennsylvania. Who was in these motorcades? Who was so privileged and so important that a public highway in the state of Illinois had to be shut down to accommodate just them and their escorts?
— John Mulvey, Chicago
Why hold these conventions?
If Kamala Harris can be officially nominated as her party’s candidate for president by an online vote, why are the taxpayers paying millions of dollars to support a “convention” that is unnecessary?
Let political parties pay for their own primaries and conventions.
— James E. Dixon, Dixon
Sponsorships for protests
In viewing the scheduled lineup of protests at Chicago’s Democratic National Convention, I was reminded of the football bowl game schedule published prior to and after the new year. I wonder if future protests will garner sponsorships like, “Today’s protest is brought to you by Chicago citizens who have too much time on their hands.”
— Michael Oakes, Chicago
There are others to consider
Recently, the former president and current felon stated that Kamala Harris is the worst vice president in our history. Seems to me he conveniently forgot Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney.
— Kurt Youngmann, Northbrook
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