Good morning, Chicago.
The Democratic National Convention has wrapped, with out-of-town politicians and delegates leaving Chicago and roads around the United Center and McCormick Place reopening.
Here’s a look back at last week, including the sights and sounds of the DNC, police Superintendent Larry Snelling’s victory lap, a photojournalist’s view of the protests and what’s next for Mayor Brandon Johnson.
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Kamala Harris’ racial and cultural firsts were onstage throughout the Democratic convention
Vice President Kamala Harris, on the night she became the first woman of Black and South Asian heritage to be a major party’s presidential nominee, didn’t explicitly mention the racial and gender firsts she would set if elected to the White House.
Instead, she opted for direct mentions of her multiracial background and upbringing. She paid tribute to her roots as the daughter of a brown woman and Caribbean man. She honored the multicultural village of “aunties” and “uncles” in California’s Bay Area. And following her speech, the relatives who joined her onstage for the traditional balloon drop included people of different and often multiple, overlapping races, like Harris herself. Western attire and saris were worn side by side.
It was a way for Harris and others at the convention to display her personal story while offering a visual political message that could appeal to a broad swath of people who see themselves in families like hers. Around 12.5% of U.S. residents identified as two or more races in 2022, up from 3% a decade earlier, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most comprehensive survey of American life.
Chicago’s top cop takes victory lap after DNC protests
The specter of 1968 – with its angry confrontations and police brutality – hung heavy over Chicago in the lead up to the Democratic National Convention, as if the largely uneventful 1996 convention never happened.
The public concerns grew even greater in May, when the city’s inspector general issued a report warning that the Police Department’s “outdated concepts and tactics” could endanger cops and demonstrators when the Democrats came to town to celebrate the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris to be the country’s next commander in chief.
None of those large-scale fears, however, came to pass.
“Can we stop talking about 1968?” Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling asked at a news conference Friday. “2024 is the new standard, and the men and women of the Chicago Police Department set that new standard out in the field.”
A photojournalist’s view of the protests from the 4-day event
Photojournalist Armando L. Sanchez recorded the protests on film for the Chicago Tribune.
Under spotlight of DNC, Mayor Brandon Johnson sought to boost progressive, pro-labor brand
Now with the convention over, Mayor Brandon Johnson can hope Chicago’s smooth, successful turn as the host city will burnish his political star and inject fresh energy into a stalled progressive agenda.
The DNC put Chicago in the limelight, but it also emptied the Loop of office workers, hurting some restaurants. ‘It was mostly a bad week.’
Chicago stepped into the limelight this week as host of the Democratic National Convention, with Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Democratic Party winning praise for hosting an event without serious disruptions. But even though the roughly 50,000 attendees enjoyed raucous nights at the United Center, parties on Navy Pier and perfect sunny days, many downtown business owners said it was a tough week.
“We lost around 60 to 70% of our lunchtime business,” said Brad Alaoui, chief operating officer of Roanoke Hospitality and operator of The Roanoke restaurant at 135 W. Madison St. “The Loop was a real ghost town. It was scary how slow it was.”
City officials said the convention would raise Chicago’s profile and boost downtown businesses, but many employers, worried about congestion and possible disorder stemming from protests, advised workers to stay home during the four-day convention, robbing restaurants and stores of their regular customers.
What life is like when the DNC is your neighbor for a week
As crowds roared inside the United Center over the past week, with Democratic organizers joining together to build enthusiasm for the party’s nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris for president, the whole spectacle has been nothing short of a “nuisance” for Dee Henderson.
Henderson’s back porch directly faces the large arena that was designated as the convention’s hub of late-night political speeches and events. The tall steel fencing put up by officials around the center almost touches the above-ground pool where her grandson likes to swim on hot summer days.
“They caged me in,” said Henderson, who has lived behind the United Center for the past half-century in one of the last single-home residential buildings on the block.
Roads are reopening around Chicago as the DNC ends. Here’s when all the security perimeters will be removed.
Security perimeters put in place for the Democratic National Convention are starting to come down now that the event has concluded and state representatives and party officials are heading home. Normal traffic routes will be restored surrounding McCormick Place and the United Center starting Friday and will wrap up by Monday, according to a Thursday news release from Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications and the Department of Transportation.
DNC spotlight brought clean CTA stations and helpful staff
After facing years of complaints about service, cleanliness, and safety, the CTA faced a major test this week during the Democratic National Convention.
With tens of thousands of politicians, dignitaries, protesters and media in the city, the agency was tasked with helping show off Chicago to a national audience, while still serving everyday residents on their journeys around the city. And by many accounts, the week was marked by clean trains and stations and reliable service.
It had some Illinois delegates wondering whether the experience could be the same on the CTA year-round.
“They absolutely rose to the occasion,” said state Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, a member of the Illinois delegation who said she rode the CTA frequently throughout the event.
“Man, if only it was this clean every day,” she later added. “If only there were this many people on the train every day.”
From friendship bracelets to camo hats, what Chicago DNC fashion over the past week tells us about politics today
As the cameras panned through the audience at the convention in the United Center, the names of Kamala Harris and her vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz, were emblazoned on shirts, hats and buttons. And, of course, there was lots of blue — but some thought extra long and hard about their fashion choices. Truly, “clothing matters” according to one political science professor, who said it’s a tool politicians use to gain support from potential voters and to communicate with their supporters.
Lil Jon and Stevie Wonder, country artists and rumors of Beyoncé: the soundtrack of the DNC
Some of the most buzzed-about moments during the 2024 Democratic National Convention had little to do with policy and campaigns and nearly everything to do with the soundtrack.