"Complex at the DNC" is a daily journal of convention events by Kevin Powell, activist, writer, and author of 'The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood.'
Monday, July 25
I started the day by picking up my credentials at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and immediately ran into a Bernie Sanders protester. Because of the Wikileaks email scandal, tension was thick; accusations of corruption, absence of democracy, and unfairness were everywhere. If Democrats hoped to avoid the circus of last week's Republican National Convention, there was no such luck.
When I finally arrive at the main entrance, there's a sizable crowd of Sanders supporters, gated off, but loud and proud. They do not care that Bernie is supporting Hillary Clinton. They do not care that there is absolutely no way Bernie will be President at this point. They are here for the political revolution he has talked about for months. They are angry—very angry—about the email scandal that proved a "rigged" system. The same kinds of "Jesus people" who were at the Republican National Convention are yelling about homosexuals and women, competing with the Bernie-or-bust protesters trying to shut them down. Like the RNC, police presence is mad real around this protest and the city in general, but it doesn't feel like a police state the way it did in Cleveland.
If Democrats hoped to avoid the circus of last week's Republican National Convention, there was no such luck.
Perhaps that's because most of the protesters are young white people. I speak with two from North Carolina and I tell them not to let the suit fool them; I'm an activist, too. We have a good exchange about Bernie and I ask 1) Where are the people of color at the DNC? and 2) What is the plan beyond protesting—what are they going to build, create, and organize to keep the movement going? They had no answers for either question, and admitted as much. I can say this as a long-time activist: that is the problem. When we know what we're against but not what we're for, we're fueled by raw emotions—and that will only get you so far.
Inside the DNC is as just as wild. From the moment the convention starts, Sanders supporters—most of them actual delegates—shout down speaker after speaker. Any mention of Hillary Clinton leads to jeers and boos and any mention of Sanders leads to loud chants and applause. I understand why these folks are upset: They feel democracy has been hijacked and their voices are not being heard. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz's resignation is not enough. They want justice, and they want Bernie Sanders to be their president.
It's a surreal scene, and many delegates—especially older ones—don't understand why this is happening. Perhaps a dozen speakers are given a similar treatment, until First Lady Michelle Obama takes the stage. Every time a Sanders supporter tried to shout something as she spoke, delegates shut them down. There was a unified respect for FLOTUS. Her speech was brilliant, honest, and fully in support of Hillary Clinton.
When Sanders finally arrived to deliver his speech, there was thunderous applause, a standing ovation that went on for several minutes, and it was a struggle for him to even start his address. People can say whatever they want about Bernie, but it's clear that his candidacy was the most electric of the 2016 season. He speaks for the average American of all backgrounds. He fought the good fight, and he told folks that it's time to get behind Clinton. He fell in line and encouraged others to do the same, but not without addressing problems and challenges we still face, and why we cannot continue to allow a small handful of people to represent all of us.
I stood on my feet for most of Bernie’s speech, as I did for Michelle Obama, realizing that somewhere on this first night, the seeds have been sown for the transformation America so desperately needs right now.
