We made it, Chicago. The DNC is over. This Friday, WTTW News looks at Kamala Harris’ historic campaign, Patty Wetli writes about the magic of piping plovers, and more. 

WTTW News was at the DNC and around the city all week. Our team reported live from the convention each night. Catch up on our live blogs from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

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For Some Chicago Voters, Kamala Harris Represents Something Bigger: ‘She Covers a Cross-Section of American Society’

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the DNC on Aug. 23, 2024. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

If Kamala Harris beats Donald Trump in November, she’ll be the first woman in the Oval Office, the first person of Jamaican ancestry, and the first person of South Asian descent. WTTW News reporter Joanna Hernandez writes that her historic candidacy is not lost on the people who see themselves in her. Hernandez spoke to several people—activists, historians and organizers—about what it all means. Here's what they said: 

• “She covers a cross-section of American society. Kamala Harris represents and reflects the best of us. She represents a spirit of excellence – one where we take pride in knowing that she’s one of our own,’ said Lester Barclay, the honorary Jamaican consul of Chicago.. 

• “Kamala Harris would not be where she is without the standing on shoulders of people like my great grandmother who fought for women to have the right to vote,” said Michelle Duster, an educator and historian who has a direct connection to a woman who advanced the political landscape: her great-grandmother Ida B. Wells. 

• “Kamala Harris is going to be our next president. Absolutely, 100%. She’s the right person for the job. For all the people who push back and say we only want this because she’s a woman: yeah, we do want this because she’s a woman. That’s 1 of 500 reasons we want it," said Erin Gallagher, creator of the hype women movement. 

Also: 

• WTTW News reporter Amanda Vinicky has analysis on how Harris is rallying Illinois delegates. Click here to read how state Democrats are thrilled at the Vice President’s candidacy. 

Arrested Protesters Barred From Area Near DNC and Israeli Consulate, Raising First-Amendment Concerns

Protesters gather on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, near the Democratic National Convention. (Emily Soto / WTTW News)

Protests and arrests have been expected ever since Chicago was announced last year as the host city for the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Many of those arrested around the DNC this week were later banned from the areas near where protests took place, raising questions about potential free-speech issues. WTTW News investigative reporter Jared Rutecki explains why this matters. 

• The restrictions listed on court documents order defendants to stay away from the areas in Chicago surrounding the convention through Sunday. While the streets identified do contain the restricted DNC perimeter, they also extend outside the event.

• Those charged at the protest of the Israeli consulate in the Loop on Tuesday also had restrictions placed on their movement, according to records and interviews, in an area far beyond the protest target.

What the experts say: 

• “You can prevent people from going places and doing things if you have a reasonable justification for doing so,” Geoffrey Stone, professor of law at the University of Chicago, said while considering the issue from the perspective of a protester. “But in this context, I assume they’re arguing, ‘We want to go there, not to engage in illegal activity, but to engage in protected First Amendment activity. And you’re telling us we can’t go there?’”

• “This is an issue of free speech, protest and the right to reach people in government, people with decision-making power,” Sharlyn Grace, policy advisor from the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, said. 

Ald. William Hall Gave DNC's Closing Prayer Wednesday, Now He's Back to ‘Potholes and Garbage Pickup’

Ald. William Hall (6th Ward) speaks at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21, 2024. (WTTW News)

Ald. William Hall, a rookie politician elected a little more than a year ago to represent Chicago’s 6th Ward, delivered the closing prayer during Wednesday’s session of the DNC. During his speech, the pastor of St. James Church, said “God, we are ready to fight for freedoms. Division is the tool of the insecure. Hatred is the misunderstanding of love.” The Alderman caught up with WTTW News reporter Heather Cherone following his big moment. "That moment wasn’t about me," he said. "I hope I am gasoline to the fire of rebirth."

By Thursday morning, Hall was back at his desk, dealing with “potholes and garbage pickup” issues in his ward, which includes parts of Auburn Gresham, Chatham and Englewood.

City in a Garden With Patty Wetli

One of Imani and Searocket’s chicks. (Courtesy Chicago Piping Plovers)

The DNC may be over — who knows, someone could still be speaking at the United Center — but I’m going to stick with the party’s theme of joy for one more day.

And what brings more joy than piping plovers?

Seriously, whenever I’ve been at Montrose Beach this year, looking for Imani, Sea Rocket or Nagamo, anyone who’s ever spotted one of the tiny plovers immediately breaks into an ear-to-ear smile. 

Why?

Well for starters, to borrow an adjective from Mayor Brandon Johnson, plovers are “freakin’” adorable.

But they’ve also come to embody the hope that humans haven’t irrevocably destroyed the natural world. If Chicago can provide these endangered birds with safe harbor, maybe people aren’t doomed.

This summer, I was vacationing in Nova Scotia, and I was surprised to see plover tchotchkes in pretty much every gift shop. Had Monty and Rose’s fame crossed over into Canada, I wondered?

Not exactly. Nova Scotia has its own population of Atlantic piping plovers to protect. Stretches of beaches were closed to safeguard nests — sound familiar? — and on the last day of our trip, my husband and I stumbled onto one of the massive tidal mud flats where shorebirds gather to feed and rest during migration. It was a stunning landscape, wild to the point of looking and feeling otherworldly.

 In a lot of ways, this Canadian coastline couldn’t have been more different from Chicago’s lakefront, and yet, from a bird’s-eye view, both places are part of a vast interconnected web, which is a pretty cool concept to contemplate.

Great Lakes piping plovers are now leaving our shores and heading to their wintering grounds in the southern U.S.  The Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Efforts shares reports of sightings further south.

Also From WTTW News: 

• WTTW News reporter Eunice Alpasan recapped the scene at the Youth VoteFest event, where Gen Z voters gathered to discuss civic engagement and getting young people to vote. 

• Nancy Pelosi and Robin Kelly headlined the DNC Women’s Caucus meeting and WTTW News reporter Nick Blumberg was there with the story. 

• Someone put bugs in a DNC delegation breakfast and Jared Rutecki and Heather Cerone write that CPD and the FBI are looking into it. 

Back in the Day: August 23, 1968 - A Pig Earns Youth International Party Nomination in 1968

Three days before the official start of the 1968 DNC, an activist organization called the Youth International Party held its convention and nomination ceremony at Chicago's Civic Center, which is now called Daley Plaza. Better known as Yippies, the Youth International Party were a vocal and prominent faction protesting against the Vietnam War. Its founders Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin—who would later make up two of the Chicago Seven—had in January called for counterprogramming against the Democratic National Convention, which they referred to as the “Convention of Death.” 

During the Civic Center demonstration, the Yippies brought a pig to become their nominee for president. They introduced the ““squealing and reluctant” animal as Pigasus the Immortal. Rubin attempted to give an acceptance speech but police officers confiscated Pigasus and arrested his handlers, charging them with disorderly conduct. That’s not the only pig the Yippies brough to their demonstrations:  two more pigs, including one called Mrs. Pigasus, were taken into custody. After the chaos of the ‘68, the pigs were moved from the Chicago Humane Society to a farm west of the city.

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Other News From Around Town:

• Sky players' DNC attendance latest example of WNBA's political activism (Chicago Sun-Times) 
  

• DNC Counter-Convention Amplifies Voices of Resistance (South Side Weekly)
  

• Salt Shed, Ramova Theatre And 2 Other Historical Chicago Buildings Win Award For Preservation Effort (Block Club Chicago)
  

• The 10 Hottest Restaurants in Chicago Right Now (Chicago Magazine)

• Recapping the DNC and Chicago's role as host city on "Week in Review."

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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry