New Orleanian delivers prayer at DNC

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

A native New Orleanian was tapped to step onto the international stage at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., September 7 to offer a word of prayer before President Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination for president of the United States inside a packed arena as thousands of activists prepare for the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

“I don’t know how they got my name,” remembers Dr. Damian Nigel Epps, a native of the city’s Seventh Ward who now leads the faithful members of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “I was hanging curtains and was busy when I got a call from someone with the DNC and I was asked if I had a minute to talk. I said no because I was busy and told the guy that he should call me at another time.”

DR. DANIEL EPPS

Epps says that when he was contacted again and informed that he was being considered for a starring ministerial role at the convention he was surprised. “Once they told me that they wanted me at the convention, I felt overwhelmed and felt the goodness of God that a young man from New Orleans would have the privilege of serving as a minister in Iowa and offering a prayer ahead of the nomination of the president of the United States.”

The Charlotte DNC convention was Epps’ first. “I’ve never been to the DNC. Every time the Democrats have DNC. Every time the Democrats have their convention their convention I am usually attending another convention related to my church, but I intend to go and enjoy this experience.”

Epps says that while he doesn’t agree with every position the president has taken in his four years in office, he intends to back Obama because of the totality of what he has done. “I believe it is important for all Americans to vote for president, but I’m voting for Barack Obama because I agree overall with his policies.”

This article was originally published in the September 10, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper