The Rev. William Hall, a first-year Chicago alderperson, is expected to deliver the closing prayer at tonight’s Democratic National Convention, after Gov. Tim Walz accepts the nomination as the party’s vice presidential candidate.
Hall, who represents the 6th Ward on Chicago’s South Side, is the most hyperlocal politician to take the stage yet.
And he plans to keep his remarks just as local. Hall said he’ll take the roughly 4 minutes he’s allotted to highlight the historic, influential figures who’ve called his ward and the area around it home.
“Carol Moseley Braun — the first Black woman elected to the United States Senate lived in my ward,” Hall told WBEZ. He named famed gospel icon Mahalia Jackson, Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmitt Till, and even Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates as past and present constituents from his area that he wants to recognize.
“They all changed the world, so I wanted to pay homage to them,” he said.
Hall said he isn’t aware how his name was floated to Democratic Party leadership planning the convention, but said he has a feeling it’s some “hometown favorite” who wanted to make sure Chicago is represented. He received a request via text message Aug. 12 and got “100% runway” to write his own remarks, which were then approved after two grammatical corrections.
“My mom would be mad if she saw the original,” he said.
Hall is a close ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson and has previously worked for the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Hall sipped hot water, lemon and tea as he spoke to WBEZ with a hoarse voice, saying the air conditioning inside the United Center has irritated his throat.