While civic officials are hoping this week’s Democratic National Convention will once and for all dispel the taint its predecessor left on Chicago, members of the political Left proudly recalled the 1968 convention and championed its legacy Sunday afternoon at the Arie Crown Theatre.
Sponsored by The Nation, the 131-year-old political magazine, and initiated by war protester turned California state Sen. Tom Hayden, “Return to Chicago 1968-96” brought an all-star lineup of musicians, writers, politicians and activists together in a pep rally for progressive politics and causes.
In stark contrast with 1968, when then-mayor Richard J. Daley ordered Chicago police to disperse anti-war protesters in Grant and Lincoln Parks, Mayor Richard M. Daley endorsed the gathering. Taking the stage beneath a screen displaying a photograph of his late father, Daley told a crowd nearly outnumbered by news media “however unwelcome you may have felt 28 years ago, you are welcome today.”
Daley’s appearance would prove to be the biggest surprise of the afternoon, as the proceedings settled into a rhythm of speeches interrupted by brief musical performances. The welfare reform bill President Clinton signed into law last week proved a frequent target of criticism, attesting to the uneasy alliance between the political Left and the Democratic Party, or at least its presidential candidate.
The rhetorical high point of the afternoon was easily a typically riveting and impassioned speech from Rev. Jesse Jackson. Noting that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. endorsed the candidacies of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson despite their not supporting certain civil rights initiatives, Jackson roared, “I do not like the signing of this welfare bill, but I will not give up this ship,” and urged the audience to “make the White House accountable with a new Congress.”
Would that the music had approached Jackson’s fervor. Instead, Jackson Browne sang plaintive anthems, and Steven Stills and Graham Nash performed rough versions of chestnuts like “Chicago” and “Teach Your Children,” with help on the latter from Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
Raitt’s star power and husky voice repeatedly eclipsed her fellow performers, whether joining Stills, Nash and bluesman Keb’ Mo’ on a rendition of “For What It’s Worth” or testifying with the gospel choir Soul Children in the afternoon’s finale.
The near-total emphasis on speakers and musicians with roots in the ’60s and ’70s reached its nadir with a garish opening number from the local revival of “Hair” and reflected the nostalgic tone of the proceedings overall. Though the organizers of “Return to Chicago” may have wanted to celebrate the ideals of the late ’60s, the event argued that the Left still has difficulty fitting its message into a contemporary context, rather than dwelling on past glory days.
