First of all, some might ask, who is Madeline Dunn? Madeline Dunn is an 87-year-old, longtime, well-known West Philadelphia community leader, activist, church lady, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She’s also someone that will loan her voice to your campaign when she believes in you as a political candidate. She’ll star in your political commercials, as well as use some of her valuable time to help you raise money and make phone calls to encourage would-be voters to cast their ballots for you. In the world of politics and getting the Black vote, Madeline Dunn is a very valuable commodity.
Even as recently as the PA Primary Election of May 2021, Dunn was right out front, working to help incumbent District Attorney Larry Krasner win reelection, which he did. Dunn shared, “I was proud to work on Larry’s campaign. He’s a man of his word, and what he said he’d do when he first ran for District Attorney, he’s kept his word on all of that. I like him, and yes, I campaigned hard for him both times.
“Years ago, when Lou Blackwell was alive, I worked for him on two campaigns when he was running for Mayor. I wasn’t his campaign manager or anything like that, but I did all of the grunt work, putting all the papers together, getting people to volunteer to work on the polls, and all that kind of work for him. Of course, when Lucien’s wife, Jannie Blackwell, decided to run for office, I was there for her too. They were both great elected officials.
I was one of the people behind Jim Barber becoming a Ward Leader in West Philadelphia. He later went on to become a PA State Representative for the 190th Legislative District. I worked with community activist Herman Rice when he first started the Young Great Society, which was very popular back in the day. I worked with Charles Bowser and with the NAACP when Cecil B. Moore was coming on board as President. I was selling memberships for Cecil.
There was always something to do, and I always had something going on with the community. That’s the best advice I can give to young adults of today. Get involved with your community. Learn who your elected officials are. If they are not doing a good job, don’t keep voting to put them back in the office. Identify other good leaders and work to help them win political offices.“
Dunn added, “As for Chaka Fattah and his crew, I was with them from the very beginning of their political ambitions, from the very beginning. The “crew” was made up of Chaka, Al Spivy, Curtis Jones, Tony Clay, and E. Steven Collins. They were my boys. When you meet people who are running for political office and after you check them out and vet them, and you like what you learn about them, particularly if they have a track record you can follow, then you make a decision to either support them or not.
Then sometimes, according to Madeline Dunn, if you don’t see anyone in the field of candidates that you think is qualified to become an elected official for a certain office, and you think you yourself are qualified, go for it. “That’s what I did. In 1979, I dared to run against one of the most powerful men at City Hall, George Schwartz, who was City Council President at the time, and the Councilman for the 4th District, today held by Curtis Jones, Jr. representing the 4th council district. I didn’t happen to think he was doing a good enough job, and so I mounted a campaign to run against him. Ultimately George won. But his star didn’t keep shinning for long. He went to jail along with several other elected officials, including Councilman Jimmy Tayoun.
What I learned from running for a political office were some valuable lessons, many of which I shared with other political candidates who came along, after my campaign was past history. I learned that you cannot be a sore loser and that even when you lose a campaign; if you believe in your community, you pick yourself up after a loss, and you get back to the business of supporting and fighting for the community. You should never lose sight of that. I don’t surrender. Losing just means you lost this race. Put your walking shoes back on and get back out there and decide what you want to do next.”
Madeline Dunn reiterated, “Voting is just so important. Everyone, once they become age 18, needs to get registered to vote and they need to vote twice a year, everyone over the age of 18 who is in their right mind and able to vote. Nowadays, with the vote by mail option, there’s just no excuse not to vote. Voting isn’t supposed to be about just helping certain people win offices. It’s about what those people will do for the community, for our children, for our city, for our state, and for our nation once they get in office.
“When you start calling names, you know you get in trouble, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the late, great PA State Representative David P. Richardson. Whenever we needed help in West Philadelphia, Brother Dave would have some of his supporters come and help us, and in turn, when they needed extra people to stand with them in Germantown, we’d be right there. That’s the way things used to work in Philadelphia when it came to Black politics. We stood unified.
More recently, Madeline Dunn says she was very proud to work on behalf of Barack Obama in both his campaigns for President and to work for now President Joe Biden in his bid for President in 2020, along with his running mate Kamala Harris.
God-willing, Madeline Dunn’s wise counsel to younger up-and-coming community activists and want-to-be elected officials will keep being doled out for many years to come. Madeline Dunn says she doesn’t know any other way to behave except to share information that will hopefully lift up our people and strengthen our communities.
