Greetings:
It’s August, and it’s an incredibly special August. For the first time in 56 years, our great city is hosting the Democratic National Convention. Most of us don’t remember the DNC of 1968. Times were different. Richard J. Daley was the Mayor and before the Convention, President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced that he wouldn’t be seeking a second term. This year a Black man from the west side is the mayor, President Joseph Biden has announced that he won’t be seeking a second term, and for the first time in history the Democratic presidential nominee is a Black woman. What a time, indeed! And the person in charge of all of this is the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Minyon Moore – a Black woman from the South Side of Chicago.
For all those reasons and more, this issue is personal to me. It personifies the reason I chose to name our magazine the South Side Drive, the magazine that guides you to the good life and celebrates the dynamic south side of Chicago, but it’s more than that. You see we named our publication after the spirit, the drive that inspires greatness in people from our part of town. The spirit that’s called the south side drive.
This month we’re celebrating that spirit, that special drive emanating from the four most powerful women in these times. Three of these powerful forces just happen to be from the south side of Chicago, and the fourth one will be coming to Chicago to the DNC to be celebrated for her nomination as the president of the whole United States of America.
The chairman of the Democratic National Convention is Minyon Moore, a product of the South Side of Chicago, she attended public school and college in Chicago, she gained her political astuteness in Chicago and when you read about her in this issue you’ll see and feel her power.
Jacqueline L. Jackson wasn’t born in Chicago, but she spent the majority of her adult and political life here. Of course we claim her as our own. Many of you know Jacqueline Jackon as the wife of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., or the mother of a congressman and a former congressman, or the mother of a singer and talk show host, or the mother of the new head of Operation PUSH, but if that’s all you know – you don’t know Jackie. In this issue we’ll introduce you to the Jacqueline Jackson that travels the world, and influences leaders, I mean leaders throughout the entire globe, in a quest for freedom, justice and equality for all.
Michelle Obama is a child of the South Side; in fact, she grew up steps away from where I grew up and we attended the same elementary school. Shout out to Bryn Mawr Elementary School! It seems like we just can’t get enough of reading about, talking about and learning more everyday about this phenomenal woman. Well, an issue about powerful south side girls just wouldn’t be complete without a special article about the first African American First Lady of the United States. Read it with joy!
Perhaps soon to be the most powerful woman in the entire world, Vice President Kamala Harris (pronounced comma la) has so many great attributes, our readers need to know who she really is. So in this issue, we’ve untangled some untruths to help you get to know the real Kamala Harris.
Speaking of getting to know what’s real, soon the Obama Presidential Center, for which we’ve been waiting for nearly a decade, will become a reality. Having the Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago is perfect because that’s where the political life of our first Black president for whom the Center is named emanates from. The OPC is the most important South Side development project in Chicago. Will the benefits it brings to the residents, the seniors, the children, and the businesses on our side of town be worth our wait, our hopes and all of the lobbying we did to get it here? We can only hope the answer is Yes, They Will!
