Sam Ackerman is a longtime political activist in Chicago, and a fixture of Hyde Park, in the south side. This presidential election has a different flavour for him. He’ll be voting for his neighbour, Barack Obama.

When Obama first ran for office in 1995, he needed the active support of the community. He got it thanks to his skills in dealing with people. This quality then served Obama well as a civil rights lawyer. Fresh out of law school, he came to work for Judson Miner on discrimination cases.

As a senior community organiser, Harold Lucas remembers being impressed by Obama’s social work in the early 80s. He now runs a museum in a historic black district of Chicago. Harold hopes to see a black president in the White House, but wonders how much difference it would really make. If Senator Obama is elected, Harold asks only one thing of him: to be accountable to the African-American community.  A demand that could rest heavily on Obama’s shoulders. He has promised to heal a divided country. If elected, he’ll have to deliver.