September storyteller Ken Mejia Beal is a writer/politico/ and activist. Ken started his career as an HIV/AIDS activist on the south side of Chicago in the early 2000s.
In 2015 Ken began writing for the platform DemWrite Press. In 2021 Ken became the first openly LGBTQ political Chair in the State of Illinois. In his first term, his administration turned the second reddest county in America, DuPAge County, into a solid blue county for the first time in history and saw the election of the first African American to the County Board.
In 2024, Ken served as a Delegate at the 2024 Chicago Democratic Convention and stepped into a new role- Treasurer of Youth Outlook. Hear Ken’s story Tuesday, September 3, at
OUTspoken at
Sidetrack 7-9pm.