A leader of Alabama’s Democratic Black caucus who was in Chicago for the fateful 1968 convention. A retired nurse and member of the Cherokee Nation. Former Chicago Blackhawks great Patrick Kane’s aunt: These are three of the thousands of delegates who traveled to Chicago for the long-awaited Democratic National Convention, which kicked off Monday at the United Center.
This year’s convention is largely ceremonial as Vice President Kamala Harris already secured her party’s nomination. Still, delegates were energized by the historic moment they would witness this week with Harris being the first Black and Asian American woman to be a major party’s presidential candidate.
The Chicago Tribune spoke with some of the delegates inside the United Center for day one of the four-day convention. Here’s a little bit about them:
Randy Kelley, 71, and Joe L. Reed, 85
- Delegates from Alabama.
- Kelley is chair of the Alabama Democratic Party and a pastor in Huntsville. Reed is chair of the state’s Democratic Black caucus and a retired labor leader with the state’s teachers union.
- Kelley, on getting involved in politics: “I started out early, protesting for better conditions in our community. I was very much concerned about education and the funding of schools, people having a livable wage.”
- Reed said he was an Alabama delegate when Chicago hosted the DNC in 1968. On his political motivations: “A lot of things. I’m an old man. A lot of things got me involved in politics. My witnessing unfairness, discrimination, things of that nature caused me to get involved and want to get things straightened out.”
- Before he leaves Chicago, Kelley hopes to visit the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. Reed, meanwhile, said he had no plans other than to head home and “work.” “People talk about politics, and that’s OK,” he said. “It’s good. But hell, you’ve got to work.”
Bonnie Kane Lockwood, 69
- Delegate from New York.
- A Buffalo resident, she works for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “To work for the first woman governor of the state of New York, my mother, God rest her soul, would be so proud.”
- Lockwood was previously a delegate for Hillary Clinton during her unsuccessful 2008 bid for the party’s nomination. She first got into politics in college, volunteering for a local city council candidate.
- On what she was looking forward to at Monday’s convention: “To be here and to listen to the president of the United States (Joe Biden), who, in a singular moment of humility and for the greater good, did what he did to make room, to elevate and to preserve our country (he) will go down in history.”
- Lockwood was last in the United Center in 2010, she said, watching her nephew, Patrick Kane, in the Stanley Cup.
- On Chicago’s culinary offerings: “You know what, I have to say I can’t leave without a deep dish pizza. We’re going to be in trouble with my pizza lovers in Buffalo.”
Francis Harjo, 77, and Debra Proctor, 67
- Delegates from Oklahoma.
- Harjo, a retired administrator with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Proctor, a retired nurse, both in northeast Oklahoma, on land belonging to the Cherokee Nation.
- Harjo, on becoming a delegate: “I’ve just always been interested in politics (and) always wanted to be a delegate and attend a convention and sit on the floor. I had an experience when I was in high school. I had a political science teacher who got me motivated. He had been a delegate before and he would talk about the convention (and) how much fun it was.”
- Proctor, on getting into politics: “Being Native Americans in rural Oklahoma, our state is particularly hostile to tribes at our leadership level. This is our voice. If you sit home and you expect it to change from the outside, it’s not going to happen.”
- On being in Chicago, Proctor: “The architectural tour was wonderful. I’d love to see the art museum.” Harjo: “I was just excited to get a plate of Thai food last night. We don’t get Thai food where I live.”
Michele Dappert, 33
- Delegate from Maryland.
- A Talbot County resident, Dappert is a senior media planner for a marketing firm in Baltimore and president of her county’s Democratic forum.
- On being in the United Center: “I’m just overwhelmed with excitement for the opportunity to have our first female president of the United States, which is long past due.”
- On Harris: “I’m most looking forward to see if she speaks about the programs she recently put out about affordable housing and helping people get first time homes because I’m looking. I’m trying to buy a house. It is incredibly difficult. People like me need all the help we can get and she understands that. She has always been out there fighting for the people. That is who she is.”
- Before she leaves Chicago, Dappert wants to take an architectural tour along the river. “I cannot wait to get out on that water,” she said. “The city is beautiful.”
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