A lot has been made about Barack Obama's race in this year's presidential contest-more, perhaps, than Obama himself would like. But however important race becomes in this election, the Democratic convention feels historic for Reverend Marvin McMickle.
McMICKLE: I've never gone to a political convention before, never thought about going to one, much less as a delegate. So, to be there, and actually have the right to vote on the floor of the convention is really a life-altering experience.
McMickle is of the generation that lived through the era when trying to vote could get you killed in some parts of America. That's what happened in 1930 to a distant cousin of McMickle. Edward Donnehey was 60 years old when he tried to register to vote in Danville, Kentucky.
McMICKLE: The challenger-that was the title, you know, challenge folks' right to vote-a guy named Joe Hayden, pulled out a gun and shot him.
That was November 4th-seventy-eight years to the day of this year's election.
McMICKLE: And, on the day that Obama gives his acceptance speech in Denver-August the 28th-that's 45 years later from Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech. And, here I am, the descendant of the family of Edward Donnehey going to cast a vote for a black person for president. So in lots of ways, there's lots of symbolism for me that hangs over this day.
Reverend Marvin McMickle has an imposing presence: by his demeanor and his height-standing well over 6 feet tall. But he's also approachable and affable.
He grew up in Chicago and was thinking about a career in printing until he saw Martin Luther King speak. Inspired, he turned his attention to social activism-ultimately taking a job at a church in New York led by Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who was both a pastor and a congressman. McMickle has followed a similar path. From the pulpit, he advocates social issues like HIV testing.
And, he's tried politics himself-running unsuccessful campaigns for both congress and the US Senate. Eight years later, he says he has no intention to run for office again.
McMICKLE: I think when you're 60, you should run for cover, you know, or run to help somebody who's 10-20 years younger than you, so they can in there and serve for 25 or 30 years.
Still, McMickle is never far from the fray. His church stands at the intersection of religion and politics. Candidates and office holders often make stops in his chapel, as do civil rights leaders. But at this year's democratic convention, McMickle will be listening, rather than leading. He's bringing his wife and 28-year old son to share in the moment.
McMICKLE: I want him to be there to hear this speech, and to see this event, because he's going to have a chance, God willing, to live with this for forty or fifty years. It might inspire a generation the way I was inspired by Martin Luther King in 1966.
Four years ago Obama mesmerized the democratic convention with a speech that caused many people watching across the county to take notice of him for the first time. Next week, delegates, including Marvin McMickle, are looking for Obama to soar even higher.