Part One:
An Unconventional Look at The Conventions
Harold Meyerson, Editor at Large of The American Prospect, has covered presidential conventions as a journalist since 1984. He gives us his perspective on how the 2020 conventions might be different (or similar) taking place under the strictures of COVID-19 isolation.
He also describes his first convention as an activist, in 1968, before he became a journalist. Hubert Humphrey won the nomination, after a vigorous challenge from anti-war Sen. Eugene McCarthy (and Bobby Kennedy). Outside the convention hall, huge crowds of anti-war protesters demonstrated against the Vietnam War. Millions of viewers watched on television as the Chicago police brutally beat the protesters, clearly using excessive force to arrest them.
On the convention floor, as US Sen. Abraham Ribicoff gave his nominating speech for McCarthy, he spoke up against what he called a police riot. Enraged, Chicago mayor (and boss) Richard Daley belligerently shouted obscenities and anti-Semitic epithets at Ribicoff. Because this was on national (and international) TV, chants arose both inside and outside the convention: “The whole world is watching.”
We can’t wait for Meyerson to offer his perspective as this year’s party conventions progress.
Part Two:
Women in Politics: Kamala Harris Stands on Many Women’s Shoulders, Especially Bella Abzug’s.
Pamela Nadell is Professor at American University, Chair of its Women’s & Gender History Program and Director of the Jewish Studies Program.
Before vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, before presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, before Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, there was Congresswoman and firebrand Bella Abzug.
Abzug was inspired by her immigrant parents and by her Jewish heritage to become the leader she was. She came out of the gate strongly advocating for the values and policies that she believed in. An activist for years before she ran for Congress — and for many years after — she spent six years as a Congressional champion of progressive legislation. Her first act was to promote passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution. She called for the impeachment of Pres. Richard Nixon — a year *before* the Watergate break-in! And she was the author of the Freedom of Information Act, among many other achievements.
Like other people whose contributions have been overlooked or under-appreciated, Abzug was a key player in the early days of the women’s movement and in today’s growing progressive, people-oriented approach to political and social issues.
