By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

From a very young age, Fighting Illini football grad Kam Buckner remembers observing the selfless behavior that his parents demonstrated toward public service.

Residing in Chicago's far southside community of Roseland, his dad, Raymond, was a Cook County Sheriffs Department officer. Kam's mom, Yvonne, was a seventh-grade teacher at Chicago's Alcott Elementary School.

"I watched my parents and knew that both of them were focused on other people," Buckner said. "The care they gave to their community and the people around them really influenced me and my sisters."

And though he was only a toddler at the time, Buckner vividly recalls the reverence that his family members held for Mayor Harold Washington.

"I remember my parents and my grandmother taking me downtown to city hall to see Mayor Washington's body lay in state," he said. "I knew that there was something about this guy that people loved. As I got older, I began reading about politics and discovering how people are able to make changes in society. It was something that grabbed me at a young age and it never let me go."

Today, Kambium Elijah Buckner is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, serving on behalf of the people of District 26, a ward that includes the highly diverse Chicago neighborhoods of Streeterville and Washington Park. Originally appointed to the position in January of 2019, the 35-year-old Democrat is on the November 3^rd ballot to continue in that role.

Buckner's initial foray into politics came 24 years ago when he was just 11.

"I ran for Student Council Representative in 1996 and I got whooped," he said. "I must not have brought enough candy to my classmates. But that didn't deter me."

Buckner became a student of history and was drawn to read about people like Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Harold Washington.

"For a long time, I thought that I would only be a person in the background and not be the person who was running for office," Buckner said. "As I got older, I changed the way I saw things and I knew that I had a certain passion for people and that it should be used to affect whatever kind of change I could."

As one of Chicago's top defensive end prospects, the Morgan Park High School product was recruited to the University of Illinois in 2003 by Ron Turner's coaching staff. Performing from 2003 through 2006, the 2007 political science graduate cherishes his time in East Central Illinois.

"The things I learned at the University and on the football field were priceless," Buckner said. "I can't begin to put into words their value. To be a member of a team, to have grace under pressure, and to find ways to win when the odds are against you are at the top of the list."

"We're all in the people business," he continued. "The things you learn in the locker room are just as important as the things you learn in the weight room and on the field. Being able to understand different viewpoints and being able to listen to people who you may not necessarily agree with or relating with people who come from places different from you. There are guys from all over the country, guys from different socio-economic backgrounds, guys who have different religious views. It created a sense of balance in my life and how to respect those who may come from a different standpoint than you."

And while Buckner deeply appreciates the mentoring he received from Coach Turner and then from Coach Ron Zook, it was Strength and Conditioning Coach Lou Hernandez who he says made the biggest impact.

"Me and Lou didn't always get along in the weight room, but I'll always value the precision and the passion that Lou brought to his job," Buckner said. "His drive to make us better than what we thought we could be is something that I carry with me today. Lou saw more in me than I did myself. When people buy into you like that, it means a lot. You don't always notice it when it's happening, but all these years later I'm thankful for it."

After graduating from the U of I in May of 2007, Buckner went to Washington D.C. to volunteer for Senator Richard Durbin on Capitol Hill. He returned to Chicago in 2009 and began law school at DePaul University.

After working in government relations for the Chicago Cubs, Buckner became executive director of World Sport Chicago, a non-profit that grew from the city's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Late in 2018, when Representative Christian Mitchell stepped down as District 26's delegate, Buckner was encouraged to throw his hat into the political ring.

"For whatever reason, I was chosen, so I'm grateful and thankful that I was," he said. "I'm really passionate about the work that I've been able to do."

Buckner currently represents the most diverse legislative district in the entire state of Illinois, including the wealthy near northside neighborhood of Streeterville. Bounded by Lake Michigan on the North and East, the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue on the West, and by the Chicago River on the South, Streeterville is 90 percent Caucasian and has a life expectancy of 90 years.

Buckner also serves Washington Park on the south side, stretching East-West from Cottage Grove Avenue to the Dan Ryan Expressway and North-South from 51^st Street to 63^rd.  It's a neighborhood that's 90 percent black and one that has a significantly lower life expectancy due to being embroiled in a world of violence, drugs and a lack of health care.

"These places are only nine miles apart in the same city and I represent both of them," Buckner said. "In terms of the economic opportunities that Streeterville has, it's important to me to find ways to make Washington Park more like Streeterville."

His 2020 campaign platform goals include the planks of relief and reinvestment.

"What's important in a capitalistic society like ours is to make sure that we are not just reinvesting with thoughts and deeds, but that we're reinvesting with dollars," Buckner said. "Far too often, we see communities that have purposely been left out in the cold. We don't directly address that. It's incumbent that we do all we can for the least among us, not just to be a safety net but to give them the opportunity to be economically feasible. That means finding opportunities where commerce can work in places where it has not been attempted."

Another major issue for Buckner is gun control.

"I've lost a lot of friends and family members to violence," he said. "Between my junior year of high school and my first year in Champaign, I lost more than a dozen friends and family and neighbors to gun violence. My family was involved in a triple homicide in 2008. In 2016, my dad's youngest brother—my uncle—was killed right here in the neighborhood I grew up in. It's unfortunately been a part of my life that's never gone away. It has been a relentless drumbeat of death and violence that I've witnessed and mourned."

Buckner says it's imperative that he listens intently to the voice of the people.

"Today, people all across America are speaking with a clear voice that it's time to make some changes," he said. "None of us could have predicted this pandemic. I said very early on that COVID will not break us, but what COVID will do is show us what's broken about us. Whether it's from an educational standpoint or from a criminal justice standpoint or from a police accountability standpoint. Whether it's about housing and healthcare, all of our blemishes have been brought to the fore. Because of that, people in positions like me have a moral and an occupational duty to do whatever we can to make it so that the people who live in this state know that we tried to have some actionable change when we were faced with these extreme and difficult times."

Since being placed in a role of leadership 19 months ago, Kam Buckner has learned a lot about himself.

"For me—a kid that didn't think that I'd ever be in a position to make changes—it's encouraging to know that my voice matters and that I can help effectuate whatever change that is necessary."