CHICAGO (AP) — As the American city that has hosted more political conventions than any other, Chicago has seen just about everything.
Presidential candidates have been formally declared in Chicago more than twenty times since Abraham Lincoln in 1860, including 1968 Convention, Where police clashed with protesters, Bill Clinton resigned in 1996. Re-nomination.
Now the nation's third-largest city is back on the world stage as it hosts the Democratic National Convention starting Monday, where city leaders, residents and activists are hoping to get time in the spotlight and shape the city's reputation.
Tourism officials are keen to highlight the city’s top sites and attractions, while allaying security concerns about crowds and street violence. Anti-war protesters, who come from the area’s large Palestinian population, are preparing to demonstrate. Elected leaders say it’s a historic opportunity for the city to have a woman of color in a leadership position. Vice President Kamala HarrisHe will be appointed to lead the presidential ticket for the first time.
“It’s a great testament to who we are as a people, to once again host the world where great history is going to happen by launching the first Black woman of Asian descent into the most powerful office in the world,” Mayor Brandon Johnson told The Associated Press. “Chicago gets a chance to do that.”
But not everyone sees it that way.
Although there are notable conference events, such as the 1996 conference that went largely without any problems, comparisons with the 1968 conference are inevitable, especially since Disagreement From US support to War in Gaza Growing.
Lee Weiner, 85, is the last living member of the Chicago Seven Activists were tried for organizing an anti-Vietnam War protest outside a 1968 convention, where bloody clashes with police were filmed live on television.
Weiner said the protests changed his life.
The sociologist has written a memoir about his experiences growing up in Chicago and going through the high-profile trial. Weiner said he believes people are more divided now than ever and that police tactics haven’t really changed.
“The echoes of that period are very much a part of our daily lives now,” Weiner said. “If you’re going to go out on the streets, you have to be careful.”
Chicago was Preparation For more than a year, with intensive police training and security drills ahead of the event that is expected to attract 50,000 people, including thousands of anti-war activists.
Johnson says his leadership — as a black man and former union organizer — shows that things are different, and that Chicago will embrace First Amendment rights.
But the concern that things could take another turn remains.
Some downtown businesses boarded up their windows this week while Cook County courts added more space and hours in anticipation of mass arrests during the convention.
Chicago has held several large-scale events without problems, including the NATO conference in 2012, Police Chief Larry Snelling said. He praised the department's training. To maintain constitutional security and de-escalation tactics as essential to the city's security plan.
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But Snelling said the situation is different — Chicago police are prepared for planned protests during the Democratic National Convention — and that the department has learned many lessons.
“We’ve evolved as a department. We’ve evolved in training,” Snelling told The Associated Press this week. “Look back to 1968; I think anyone who’s still around from that time will tell you that the officers didn’t have the training or the preparation to handle that kind of situation.”
Chicago is expected to see protests every day of the conference, with the main message being a call to end the war in Gaza immediately. Activists say Chicago is the ideal location because the demonstrations will start in the city’s southwestern suburbs, home to the largest concentration of Palestinians in the country.
“It is no exaggeration to say that the genocide affects Chicagoans on a very personal level,” said Mohammed Sankari, one of the organizers of the demonstration. “That is why it has become our moral duty to organize ourselves and take our demands to the doorstep of the Democratic Party.”
Some Chicagoans are also hoping to seize the opportunity.
Bradley Johnson leads an anti-violence organization, BUILD Chicago, on the West Side, not far from the United Center where the conference will be held. For months during after-school programs and weekends, his group has used the upcoming conference to teach young people about the democratic process.
He hopes the thousands of party leaders coming to Chicago will learn from the youth, too.
“It's a chance for Chicago to prove it.” Despite the shooting, “That's not all we are,” he said.
Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois said the excitement around the convention — the city's 26th major party convention — was palpable.
Her phone had been ringing with friends and acquaintances looking for tickets since Harris became the presumptive nominee. Adding to the commotion, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker He was under consideration to be Harris' running mate.
Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate, said it was fitting that Harris accepted the nomination in Chicago, where former President Barack Obama began his political career.
“We have a tradition in this city of men and women advancing to new heights,” she said.
Tourism officials were also keen to boost revenue.
Similar-sized conventions in other cities have generated as much as $200 million for hotels, restaurants and retailers, according to Choose Chicago, the city's tourism marketing organization.
“We’re like Type A personalities,” said Rich Gamble, interim president of Choose Chicago. “We have expectations for ourselves. If you’re here, we want you to see the best version of yourself and the best behavior.”
