Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

U.S. HOUSE: 7TH DISTRICT Darlena Williams-Burnett: Challenging Davis
Exclusive to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Sam Worley
2010-01-20

This article shared 2725 times since Wed Jan 20, 2010
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


Darlena Williams-Burnett is challenging incumbent Congressman Danny K. Davis for Davis' 7th Congressional district seat.

Williams-Burnett, currently the chief deputy for the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, has served in county government for decades—including on the Board of Commissioners, where she filled the remainder of Davis' term when he was first elected to Congress in 1996. Williams-Burnett is a member of the Democratic National Committee, and represents her district on the Democratic Party State Central Committee.

Windy City Times: Why'd you decide to run this year, after so long in government?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: Really, what happened this year is Congressman Davis called a press conference and said that he wanted to run for county board president. I took him at his word and kind of looked around the district and looked at the potential field of candidates and I felt that I could run, and be a good representative, a good voice for the people. One thing that I know from living in Congressman Davis' district is that he's just not very representative of certain sectors of the district. He's very comfortable on the West Side with the African-American community, but he doesn't really go beyond that and look at the issues that impact other parts of the district.

WCT: So then it really changed the dynamic when he decided to stay in the race.

Darlena Williams-Burnett: I didn't anticipate he was going to get back in the race because he spent the summer running for county board president. So, when he got back in the race it was very disheartening but it didn't discourage me from running. I think I became even more determined to say to the voters that I'm a different voice, that I'm a choice that you haven't had in the past, I'm experienced, I do this business on a daily basis. I'm giving voters a choice. They can make it.

WCT: What are you saying to voters?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: This district has some of the richest of the rich—on the Gold Coast and Michigan Avenue—and you have the poorest of the poor. So it depends on where you go. But I think the universal issue, wherever you go in the district, is jobs. The sustainability of jobs that exist, the ability to identify what the future jobs are going to be and how do we get our work force prepared—job readiness, job training that will address the needs of those that are underserved, how we help them pull themselves out of poverty. It's all about jobs.

WCT: Has that been a challenge—figuring out how to speak to different parts of a district that's so diverse?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: Absolutely. You will lose your audience if you're on the, let's say, far west side in the Austin community, and you're talking about reforming the financial markets—which I feel is an issue we need to address. But those people don't want to hear about how you're going to make the banks more responsible and the Wall Street investment banks more accountable, because they feel like it's so out of reach in the first place. They don't relate. I speak to what their needs are, what I know their concerns are. I try to put it in terms they can understand. The big banks for years redlined our communities, didn't have a branch in the community, and didn't give us access to credit. So I try to help them understand that even if I'm talking about my overall platform, reforming the financial markets, here's how it relates to you.

WCT: Something that's about to come before Congress is immigration reform. One thing that our readers have been hearing about in our paper is the notion to provide the ability of same-sex partners to sponsor one another for citizenship. Is that something you're aware of, or have a position on?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: I wouldn't be opposed to it. It'd be discriminatory if you didn't allow for it, if you allowed for heterosexual [ couples ] . I think that the bigger problem with the American immigration system is, it's just unjust. So I think that before we figure out how to move forward with immigration, we need to address the problems that are in immigration now. Some of the policies are draconian. They'll just go sweep up a mother that has children that are citizens but she might not be a citizen and ship her out, and never allow her the opportunity for a voucher. They need to look at what's in place, fix some of the inadequacies that exist in the system that discriminate.

WCT: You were a fairly early supporter of Barack Obama. How do you think he's doing so far?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: I am supportive of the president but I am somewhat disappointed. And I think that's probably normal given the complexity of America and the world when he took office, and he almost had to prioritize which catastrophe he would tackle first. I am saddened, I should say, not so much disappointed, but saddened that he has really not had the opportunity for a honeymoon, but he has just had to jump into so many issues— [ LGBT issues ] that he had campaigned on and made some promises to, he had to put on the back-burner because he's had to address an international financial crisis. When he was a candidate, he talked much differently, and he talked the way I felt about the need to be cautious about going to war, the need to recognize the consequences of war. He had more of an anti-war persona then.

WCT: In your time in Cook County government, have you had to deal much with LGBT issues?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: [ Cook County Clerk ] David Orr keeps the records on marriage and the vitals and all of that—I know he has come out and took a position on certain things. In my role as a county commissioner—when I was a county commissioner—there weren't many issues confronting us on the side of gay and lesbian rights.

WCT: At this point, the city and the county have pretty progressive policies, in that regard, right?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: I think so. I think they're probably some of the more progressive ones in the country, I guess. But not without its share of efforts by the community to bring it to the forefront.

WCT: Is that something you'd be interested in bringing to Washington?

Darlena Williams-Burnett: Well, I would advocate for the rights of all citizens. I don't want to see one group discriminated against because I don't think that sexual orientation should play a part in how we govern, and how we treat people. And I think that when we can identify those disparities or those inadequacies—just like me being a woman of color—we should address it. We should bring attention to it. If there aren't laws in place, we should put them in place to protect all our citizens. I don't care if you like girls, boys or whatever, it just shouldn't matter. I think that we spend too much time trying to legislate behavior of that nature, and I don't think that government will ever be able to do that.

See www.burnettforcongress.com .


This article shared 2725 times since Wed Jan 20, 2010
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

LGBTQ+ candidates Marcelino Garcia, Precious Brady Davis win primary elections to keep MWRD seats 2024-03-21
- Marcelino Garcia and Precious Brady-Davis, the two openly LGBTQ+ incumbents in the race to keep their seats on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), won their primary elections and will move on to the general this ...


Gay News

Small LGBTQ+ candidate pool nevertheless scores some important victories March 19 2024-03-20
- Relatively few openly LGBTQ+ candidates were running in the March 19 Illinois Primary Election. But there were some significant contests in play at the local, state and federal levels. Openly gay Ald. Ray Lopez (15th Ward) ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Precious Brady-Davis says climate change is top issue as she runs to finish appointed MWRD term 2024-03-08
- Precious Brady-Davis, commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), is one of several candidates running to fill three seats on the board in the March 19 election. Brady-Davis was appointed to the role last summer ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 MWRD's Marcelino Garcia discusses flooding, land use and LGBTQ+ inclusion 2024-03-08
- Marcelina Garcia, commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), is one of several candidates in the running to fill three seats on the board in the March 19 election. Garcia, who chair's the MWRD's Finance ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Mike Simmons discusses LGBTQ+ health disparities, child tax credit 2024-02-27
- State Senator Mike Simmons is running unopposed in the March 19 election. Simmons began representing the 7th District after the former state senator, Heather Steans, retired. He's lived in the area his entire life. ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Raymond Lopez talks congressional run, Chuy Garcia, migrant crisis 2024-02-26
- Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez has been a member of City Council since 2015, representing the 15th Ward and making history as one of the city's first LGBTQ+ Latine alderman. Now, he is setting his sights on ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Kelly Cassidy discusses reproductive health, LGBTQ+ rights ahead of March primary 2024-02-26
- By Kayleigh Padar State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, running unopposed in the March 19 primary election so as to continue representing the 14th District, was first elected in 2011. During her tenure in Springfield, she has ...


Gay News

Bring Chicago Home Campaign releases open endorsement letter from 100+ faith leaders 2024-02-19
--From a press release - CHICAGO — With just over a month before the March 19th primary election, prominent Chicago faith leaders will today release a letter—signed by over 100 religious leaders—endorsing the Bring Chicago Home campaign to restructure the Real ...


Gay News

Democrat flips seat once held by George Santos 2024-02-14
- On Feb. 13 in New York, Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election to succeed the U.S. congressional seat formerly held by openly gay Republican George Santos, who was recently ousted. According to NBC News, Suozzi's ...


Gay News

Equality Illinois makes 77 pro-equality, pro-family endorsements for 2024 primary election 2024-02-13
--From a press release - CHICAGO - Equality Illinois, the state's civil rights organization for LGBTQ+ Illinoisans, on Tuesday announced state legislative and county-level endorsements for the primary election on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. "Equality ...


Gay News

WORLD Taiwan MP, lesbian couple, India items, Ghana assault, Nepal 2024-02-09
- Huang Jie said her election to Taiwan's parliament as the island's first openly gay MP represents progress, according to the Hong Kong Free Press. "I hope (my election) will bring courage to many people as I've ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Judge Ed Underhill talks experience, newest campaign 2024-02-05
- Last June, longtime attorney Ed Underhill assumed the role of Cook County judge, becoming one of the few LGBTQ+ people to be in one of those positions. (He's in the LGBTQ+ group The Alliance of Illinois ...


Gay News

Equality Illinois endorses in two key primary election races 2024-01-24
--From a press release - Equality Illinois endorses in two key primary election races for state representative: Dr. Michael Crawford in Illinois House District 31 and Lisa J. Davis in Illinois House District 32. Dr. Crawford and Ms. Davis have demonstrated ...


Gay News

Rainbow Wave: 238 LGBTQ+ candidates win public office in 2023, all time high for an odd year election 2023-11-14
--From a press release - Washington, DC — 238 out LGBTQ+ candidates have won elections in 2023, as of 3 p.m. ET, surpassing the record 185 who won in 2021 — the last odd-year election. LGBTQ+ Victory Fund is awaiting final ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Election results, campus items, Puerto Rican icons, healthcare suit 2023-11-10
- Historic developments took place during the Nov. 7 elections that happened in some states. LGBTQ+ Victory Fund candidate Rue Landau won an at-large seat on the Philadelphia City Council—making her the first out LGBTQ+ candidate to ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.