March 29--Mayor Rahm Emanuel and challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia held dueling rallies and both made appearances before an African-American women's convention Saturday as they scour the city for votes ahead of the April 7 runoff election.
Following various musical acts and the Jesse White Tumblers, Emanuel delivered a speech before a predominantly black audience of nearly 500 at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville.
The mayor told the crowd that "for too long and too often the city did not invest in its future, the children of the city of Chicago," and then sought to portray his education initiatives as having prevented Chicago from sliding from its status as an elite city.
"We have the best art museum in the world. We have the tallest skyscrapers in the world, but if four out of 10 of your kids are dropping out of high school, you won't be a world-class city much longer," Emanuel said. "If half your kids are missing out on a full day of kindergarten, you won't be a world-class city much longer.
"If your kids have the shortest school day and the shortest school year in America, you won't be a world-class city much longer. ... The way we measure ourselves is when we walk through that door of opportunity, do you reach back and shut it or do you reach and pull a hand through that door of opportunity?"
Emanuel was greeted with chants of, "Who you with? I'm with Rahm!" following his 13-minute speech, during which he was joined on stage by Secretary of State Jesse White and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush.
Meanwhile, Garcia spent his Saturday morning on the South Side, appearing first with the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's headquarters in Kenwood, giving a brief campaign speech at a West Englewood barbershop and touring a South Shore commercial district with supporters. Then he headed to a rally at Piotrowski Park in his Little Village neighborhood, where he urged a crowd of roughly 150 supporters to vote early.
"There's something urgent happening in Chicago," Garcia said. "Just like you have assembled here today, so have people in their neighborhoods, saying 'We want Chicago back. We want to be important. We want to be the boss of the city of Chicago, as it should be.' That's known as good, old-fashioned democracy, and that's what you're engaging in today.
Both Garcia and Emanuel also spoke at the Black Women's Expo at McCormick Place. Garcia told the attendees that he would look out for the neighborhoods and grow opportunities there. Emanuel was introduced by Ariel Investments President Mellody Hobson, who is married to filmmaker and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas.
Hobson said she's been impressed with Emanuel's business and education initiatives, proclaiming, "He does things and get things done, which is why our president, Barack Obama, picked him to be his first chief of staff."
Emanuel has cleared the way for Lucas to build an art museum on the lakefront on a parcel that's currently a parking lot south of Soldier Field. Garcia has said Emanuel failed to ask voters for input on the project and derided it as a "monument to Darth Vader" that has no place on Chicago's lakefront.
"It's unfortunate, because he hasn't then read what the museum is really about," Hobson said of Garcia's comments after her appearance with Emanuel. "I think we expected there would be a dialogue about the museum and we welcome that, and we want what's best for Chicago. I think it will be a great, great asset for our city."
Asked about the mountainous appearance of the proposed museum and some of the criticism the design has received, Hobson responded: "I love it, love it. I think it's really something we've never seen before. That's what Chicago is all about. Chicago is about great architecture. That was true of the Sears Tower when it was built. ... That's what Chicago is."
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