CHICAGO — State and local Democratic leaders are officially declaring their intent to try to bring the 2024 Democratic presidential nominating convention to Chicago, releasing a video that promotes the city for its diversity, its cultural and culinary attractions, and its status as the adopted hometown of the party’s previous president, Barack Obama.
“Leading the battle on voting rights. Advocating to preserve all civil rights. Suppression. Oppression. We’re fighting for equality. It’s why we’re known as the heartland of democracy,” artist and activist Common, a native of Avalon Park, says in the city’s audition video. “For all the diversity that delights us, connects us, that brings out the best in us. Every Face. Every Age. Every Race. All different types of populations that make us one city, representing one nation,” he says in the video.
The 2-minute, 47-second video — showing views of the city’s lakefront, museums, parks, sports teams, music venues and tourist attractions — also includes footage of demonstrations, including protests following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
