Off to the Convention

Ann-Marie Luciano Bio

On Sunday morning I head to Denver for the Democratic Convention. This is my first time ever serving as a delegate and I'm absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the voters from the Maryland 6th District.

There are a lot of different things that make this Convention unique. As everyone knows, this Convention will be the first an African-American candidate accepts the nomination for president of the United States. This fact makes my heart leap with joy and sadness at the same time - joy that Rev. Martin Luther King's dream is being realized, and sadness that it has taken this long and that we still have so far to go.

There are other firsts too. On Thursday night, the night the Barack Obama accepts the nomination (and the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's I have a Dream" Speech), the convention will be open to the largest crowd of approximately 75,000 people. The Convention week will be kicked off by the first interfaith gathering. It's also going to be the Greenest convention in history - from plans to recycle and compost 85 percent of all waste from the Convention to the introduction of carbon offset programs for delegates.

I plan on blogging during the Convention as often as I can access the Internet. I'll send updates about what's happening on the floor and any fun facts I learn along the way. I'll be taking as many pictures as I can, which I'll try to find a way to post before I return. Governor Martin O'Malley will also be live blogging from the convention and posting pictures from the floor, which can be accessed at http://www.martinomalley.com/

For those of you not hosting your own Convention watch party, there will be a Democratic Convention watch party at Cafe 611 (611 N. Market St. in Frederick, Maryland) on Thursday night, August 28th to watch Obama's speech. Come and celebrate with other fellow Democrats.

To find the closet one near you or to host one of your own, click here: http://my.barackobama.com/organizeforchange