Higher Learning with ZeldaSpeaks: Celebrating Mayor Harold Washington

Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, whose legislation as a U.S. Congressman created the Dr. Martin Luther King national holiday, left an indelible mark in American history. His 1983 mayoral victory was a catalyst for the 1984 Presidential run by Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose massive national voter registration drive led to major victories for African American candidates for public office all across the country. Rev. Jackson also lobbied and succeeded in changing rules regarding the counting of Electoral delegates for Presidential candidates, enabling candidates to receive a percentage of electoral votes from each state based on the percentage of the total votes they received. In the past, a Presidential candidate would receive all the votes from a State if that candidate won the State, but this rule change made possible the victory of President Barack Obama in 2008. It all started with the election of Harold Washington as mayor of Chicago. Today's guest is Minister Robert Floid Plump, head of the Mayor Harold Washington Foundation, to tell us about upcoming celebrations of the life of the man whose election transformed Chicago and the Nation.