Illinois Democratic Women's Annual Convention

[murielm99]

I don't know if anyone in this forum is an IDW member. If not, you should look into joining. Membership is open to men also.

I enjoyed the convention this year. There were two highlights for me.

The first was our awards presentation and featured speaker Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. I am sure most Illinoisans know who Congresswoman Schakowsky is. But I was especially happy to hear her backstory told again. I remember when it happened in 1969, because I was a newlywed at that time, trying to navigate the joys and sorrows of grocery shopping on a budget.

Ms. Schakowsky was a housewife and a mom then, a very smart mom. She noticed that grocery items had very confusing combinations of numbers and letters written on the tags, such as XYABC124. Some items had color codes. She and a group of friends knew that these were freshness codes, and they wanted to know what the codes meant so that they could get the freshest items for their families. The stores they frequented told them to mind their own business or shop elsewhere.

They started to corner stock boys and ask questions. They had meetings. Finally, led by Jan Schakowsky, they bought one share of stock in companies like Jewel Foods and National Tea Co. (remember them)? and attended stockholders meetings. They nominated Mike Royko to be the CEO of Jewel, kind of the equivalent of nominating Al Franken and Stephen Colbert today.

They won. Without any legislation, with only the power of publicity, grocery stores began using readable freshness codes on their products. And Jan Schakowsky began her career as a citizen advocate, grassroots organizer and elected Democratic official.

The other highlight of the convention was a surprise guest. Senator Durbin was in town, so he came in to speak on Saturday after our business meeting. He spoke about some of the things that are going on in Washington, and he poked some fun at his opponent in the Senate race. He spoke about a few Illinois events and women's leadership. Four members of my executive committee were there, so we had our pictures taken with him. I found out that out of 102 county organizations, only seven of us have women chairpersons. Yikes! We have a long way to go!

I am glad I attended the convention. I hope to attend for many more years.

[Maddy McCall]

1. Thanks so much for sharing this, muriel!

Sounds like y'all had a great time!

:hug:

[murielm99]

2. You're welcome, Maddy.

This is the fun part of being a woman in a leadership position.

Keeping the peace and keeping good records are the necessary, but less fun parts.

[mopinko]

3. hey, thanks for that story. i thought i knew jan, but i never heard that.

i know someone who worked in her first campaign, too. funny.
glad you honored jan. she is just the absolute best. figures she got her start in politics by being a smart mom. if someone ever starts a "more moms in congress" movement, i will be right there. it would change the world.

[rosesaylavee]

4. Wait... Durbin is running against someone?

When did this happen? See what happens when I don't frequent DU as much? Am I out of it or what?


Wait. I googled. Steven Kenneth Sauerberg. :puke: I won't link to his page. Go to his website and he will happily tell you where he and his wife are active church members and that he is not a politician. What a maroon.

[murielm99]

5. Yeah, Durbin is really shaking in his shoes.

This opponent guy gave a speech criticizing Durbin for not living in Illinois, which is not true.

And apparently he does not know what earmarks are. He criticized Durbin for earmarks, then said Durbin was not bringing any money to Illinois.

:rofl:

We have great Senators. We have a history of great Senators. No matter how the primary war ends, I will be proud of our Senators.

I will post the picture of Durbin and me when my friend forwards it. He looks great. I look like I did not get any sleep the night before. (I wonder why I look that way)?

[rosesaylavee]

6. Well.. he DID state he wasn't a politician on his website ...

so doesn't that excuse him from not understanding what the job entails? What a goof. Yeah, please post the pic when you get it. I like Durbin a lot. I think he is tremendously undersung and not appreciated as much as he should be.