Sigh: Chitown Democratic National Convention, Wish I Could Be There
Chitown, I was born in Provident Hospital, the first of three siblings — Vic, who passed away several weeks ago, and Karen, AKA, Sis, who passed a while back (pain still reverberating). When the ’68 Convention started August 26, 1968 I couldn’t head down to the International Amphitheatre where it was held.
I was lame from a basketball injury in an outdoor b-ball tournament when I came down with a rebound and landed on the foot of NBA second-round draftee Flynn Robinson (who let me hang out with him that summer) when I was trying to get ready for the Baltimore Bullets rookie camp and screwed up my ankle. {Rookie camp: I almost made the first cut. 😩}
Cutting to the chase: I didn’t go where the action was at the ’68 convention because I couldn’t run. Word on the street circulating in my 7314 S. Aberdeen neighborhood in the Englewood District for weeks … was that Chicago PD was planning to kick ass. Not being able to sprint away from danger was upper most in my mind.
This time it’s the kind of medical issues a septuagenarian must consider when there are news reports that things might get heavy at the 2024 Convention.
NYT: As the Convention Nears, Chicagoans Wonder: Will It Be a Nuisance or a Party?
For the record, I’m a registered Independent. Live in Jersey City. Tenured, teaching journalism at Hunter College, CUNY.
