photo by steed media service

It’s a wonder Dionne Savage gets any sleep at all. By day, Savage is an associate attorney at one of the country’s largest law firms, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, where she specializes in corporate and securities mergers and acquisition law. Outside the offices of the Philadelphia law giant, Savage is a co-host and legal advisor on E. Steven Collins’ radio show “Philly Speaks,” and sits on the board of the Urban League of Philadelphia.

On Collins’ show, Savage has a platform to communicate the importance of the 2008 election to the African American community in Pennsylvania. “For so long African Americans have been on the sidelines because they felt like elected politicians or elected officers don’t necessarily represent the issues that are important to us,” says Savage.

Yet for Savage and the rest of the African American community, the mentality of ethnic exclusion changed with the arrival of presidential hopeful, Barack Obama. “When we see Barack Obama, we see the possibility of our own children actually being able to hold political office and really say, ‘You know what? [There’s] a lot of opportunity out here for us,’ ” she says. “We have a tendency to emulate [behavior we see] and when we see someone like Barack Obama [we think], ‘Wow, I can emulate that.’ ” Savage says she plans to continue her work on the show throughout the general election, but hopes that others will feel encouraged and get involved. “Elected officials haven’t been responsive to our issues and our concerns, and now we need to stand up and say we’re holding you accountable,” she says. -gavin philip godfrey

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