Top News

Chicagoans Celebrate Obama's Nomination

Excitement Runs High In Hyde Park, Across City

CHICAGO (CBS) ― If you lived in Hyde Park seven or eight years ago, it wasn't unlikely that you might run into Barack Obama on the street.

Now, Chicago is preparing to celebrate its hometown Senator as he accepts the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday night, and it has special meaning for residents of Obama's hometown neighborhood of Hyde Park and elsewhere on the city's South Side.

As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, people there are excited and inspired, and not just because Obama lives in the neighborhood.

As early as sunrise, Hyde Parkers were studying the headlines in the morning papers, confirming what was hard to believe for some.

"I just feel so overjoyed; it makes me so happy to know that I was able to live to see this," said Elizabeth Lee of Hyde Park. "I never thought I would."

It was a milestone in a long struggle for civil rights. The monumental historic significance could be seen and felt in the moments after Obama was officially nominated, and the 1973 O'Jays R&B classic "Love Train" blasted through Denver's Pepsi Center.

People danced in their seats in the aisles and tears flowed. It was as if a dam had suddenly burst. It had come to this – an African-American was officially one step closer to the White House.

On Thursday morning, Michael Johnson, principal of Reavis Elementary School on the city's South Side, put the nomination into his perspective.

"It will help the kids that I work with, so that they can see if they work hard and believe in themselves, they can do a lot of things that they could probably never imagined that they would be able to do," Johnson said.

Quiana Lewis, a mother and Obama supporter, had a similar view.

"I think African-American children looking at him – this is the moment where they think, 'OK, well maybe I have a chance to become president in the future also,'" added Obama supporter Quiana Lewis. "It makes me feel great."

Excitement was running high across the city.

"I think it's good for America in general – not just the African-American community, but I think the entire nation," said Obama supporter Darrel Fogs. "I think it shows that someone from a different background will be then seen to rise to become possibly President of the United States."

"It kind of brought inspiration to finally see an African-American being nominated for president," said college student Shakir Lee. "It brings some type of joy to me."

An 83-year-old black World War II veteran who served with the Tuskegee Airmen said this: "Just let me live until voting time in November. In my lifetime, we just might have the first African-American president."

The TV ratings suggest that 27 million Americans were watching the convention coverage Wednesday night, with African-Americans in higher proportions than the rest of the population.

Obama was born in Hawaii, but has built strong roots in Chicago, first working as a community organizer in the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the city's Far South Side in the 1980s.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Obama returned to Chicago and soon became a partner in the civil rights law firm Miner, Barnhill and Galland. He became a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School in 1992, and was elected to the Illinois State Senate four years later. Obama has served in the U.S. Senate since 2004.

Watch parties for Obama's acceptance speech are scheduled in several locations, including the Regal Theater, at 1645 E. 79th St. In the Hyde Park neighborhood, at the Ramada Lake Shore, 4900 S. Lake Shore Dr. Viewing parties are also being held at local bars across Chicago and the suburbs.

One group, Team We Run for Obama!, is augmenting their viewing party by holding a run from Montrose Harbor to Joe's Bar at 940 W. Weed St.

In Gary, Ind., residents can head to the Genesis Center, at 408 Broadway.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

---