Black History Month 2012: Spotlighting a few key players in the Democratic National Convention 

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Dredd was recalling the conversation in his office, which is decorated with mounted photos from the 2008 inauguration. There are plants in the window — a "little bit of California" for the Los Angeles native — and artwork with the messages of hope and progress. The veteran of three previous conventions told me his term in the military was "probably the first time that I really had a chance to experience where different communities can come together toward one primary goal."

Now Dredd keeps the moving parts going as the convention date of Sept. 4 nears: "The tempo is definitely increased." Sometimes in a city the size of Denver or Charlotte, he told me, "You think it's not quite prepared for what's coming. But Charlotte under the leadership of Mayor Foxx has been well prepared from day 1." The 40-year-old shares an April 30, 1971, birth date with the mayor, and they've joked about having a joint celebration.

Though Dredd and his fiancée, a Durham, N.C., native, haven't had time to venture far from their Uptown home — the Dandelion Market is a favorite nearby hangout — Charlotte might be competition for the West Coast when the couple looks to the future, he said.

Dredd is from a family of six boys, where he was not the athlete. "My mother would say I always had a spirit of bringing people together," he said, from the time he was class president in elementary school. An early supporter of the Obama campaign, Dredd worked as a volunteer in California. In 2008, he joined the Democratic National Convention Committee, and served as the deputy CEO for convention hall operations. He managed the inaugural team for Vice President-elect Biden, and since then has traveled to South America and Europe doing advance work for the president and vice president. Recently, Dredd served as a special assistant to Secretary Steven Chu in the Department of Energy, and moved to Charlotte from Washington.

Reflecting on Black History Month, Dredd talked about the power of the image of the president speaking in Bank of America stadium. "It's going to be a very significant moment," he said, "a great visual of progress. This is where America's headed."

Dredd acknowledges that others may not look on this as progress. "America's full of diversity; it's got a lot of different people with a lot of different opinions," which he said is fine. But he added that we now have the possibility of not just an African-American president, but a person: "His name is Barack Obama." And that's part of history. "You can look forward to a dream that you have," he added. "Your dreams become more real."

Robyn Hamilton

In the ceremonies and celebrations leading up to the inauguration of President Obama, one moment stood out for Robyn Hamilton. As she watched a televised concert on the National Mall, someone walked onstage with a bald eagle — that very American symbol. And as the man started to sing "America the Beautiful," she recalled, "the eagle just spread its wings. Something about it brought me to tears."

Hamilton, a proud veteran of the Army (as a military analyst) and Air Force (as a social actions specialist), had sung the words plenty of times. But sitting with her own family and looking on as the camera panned across the newly elected president and his family, "for the first time, I really, deeply believed," she said. It was "a life-changing moment"; it happens when you realize "the world of possibilities."

Since July, Hamilton, director of business relations for the Democratic National Convention Charlotte host committee, has been expanding the possibilities for regional businesses with an interest in the convention. "My position is actually unique, one of the very first times there's been a staff position," she said, "to make sure we're being as inclusive and intentional as possible about including the local business community."

Hamilton has been speaking with small business groups, women and minority organizations, real estate professionals and chamber gatherings. The conversation goes both ways, as groups in Lake Wylie, Matthews and Monroe want to know what's being planned, how the convention will affect their communities and businesses, and what the legacy will be after the first week of September. The most effective tool has been the vendor directory at www.charlottein2012.com; it has resulted in work for local businesses and partnerships with larger firms.

"I've been working with small businesses for 20-plus years," said Hamilton, who has served as the president and CEO of the Carolinas Minority Supplier Development Council, helping them "to take advantage of whatever the opportunities are."

Growing up in the "tight-knit," predominantly African-American Montbello neighborhood in Denver, Colo., Hamilton said, "We thought we were the wealthiest kids on the planet." She met her husband-to-be in second grade. "It was that kind of neighborhood," she said.

Since then, she has worked for the African American-owned Citizens Trust Bank in Atlanta and with the U.S. Department of Commerce, studied Native-American businesses at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and earned an MBA from McColl School of Business at Queens University, where she was a distinguished Leadership Charlotte fellow.

Hamilton, 42, has been in Charlotte for about 10 years, and active in outdoor activities with her family on their farm of about a dozen acres. "I've always had an affinity for horses," she said, though with convention planning, she hasn't had much time to ride Blue.

She left Montbello years ago, but never forgot "the gifts given to me," she said. Or the lessons learned. "Don't take the ride if you're not willing to give one. Be grateful and thankful and humble that people are investing in you and have expectations of you. Embrace that and live up to that."

Mary C. Curtis is an award-winning Charlotte-based journalist and contributor to The Washington Post, The Root, NPR and the Nieman Watchdog blog. Her "Keeping It Positive" segment airs Wednesdays at 7:10 a.m. on Fox News Rising Charlotte, and she was national correspondent for Politics Daily.

Read her historical piece at The Root:

www.theroot.com/views/gauging-politics-and-progress-new-south-0?page=0,.