Diary Of Philadelphia At The DNC 2016
I decided to go to Philly to protest the DNC and the horrible choice of Hillary Clinton. I’ve been putting my heart and soul into Bernie Sanders’ campaign since he announced. I donated time and money for over a year. I saw it through to the end when he conceded at the DNC in Philadelpia. I cannot possibly try to describe the once-in-a-lifetime feeling I had being there around people like me. Everyone was so awesome. Everyone talked. It’s like we were all friends. I even got to see and meet some of my progressive heroes like Lee Camp, Debbie the Sane Progressive, Greg Palast, and Jimmy Dore.
Pictures: http://yearscollage.com/user/niles38?set_id=41
Here is the diary of what my experiences were. If you ever get a chance to be a part of something bigger than yourself, please do it and see it all the way through. I need to keep harping on these feelings since I may never feel this way again. That’s how much this experience meant to me.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
- Woke up & finished packing; texted Heidi
- Went over Heidi’s house & helped decorate her car with Bernie writing
- On the way up to Philly we saw another Bernie car decorated; we honked & waved
- We also saw Black Men For Bernie bus; they later honked at us
- Got to the hotel in New Jersey and checked in
- Went to nearest PATCO station; Heidi & Ken got the Bernie Sanders banner; I got my Jill Stein quote sign
- There were other Berners on the platform; talked to them while waiting for the train
- Some guy accidently fell; when he got up, he said, “Hillary for prison!”
- Did an interview with a news station with Heidi & Ken on the platform
- Talked with other Berners on where to go; decided to go to the Climate Rally
- Started marching with the Climate Rally that ended at Independence National Historic Park
- Chilled at Independence National Historic Park; Ken got us lunch
- Decided to go to the March For Bernie at 3; saw Josh Fox speak as we were leaving; gave the rest of our lunch to a homeless man
- Went to Philly City Hall to start the March For Bernie
- Marched to FDR Park; fire hydrants were open so we took turns going through them to cool off; march was around 4-5 miles
- Chilled at FDR Park for a few minutes
- Decided to head over to the Fire early for Lee Camp
- Walked a few blocks since traffic was blocked off to get an Uber (only Uber we took the whole time)
- Chilled at The Fire; Heidi got pizza; drank until the show
- It was really hot in the room; Lee Camp and company were late coming out
- During the show Ken made a chair joke; there were a few chairs at the front; Ken said “one less chair today” referring to DWS; I was also the only one who “wooed” for agnostics
- Left the show early since it was so hot
- Got directions from fire fighters; caught the Philly subway (SEPTA) to PATCO
- Went back to the hotel
Monday, July 25, 2016
- Got up & had breakfast; they had waffles; took picture & sent it to Bri
- Got ready & left the room
- Had a problem finding parking; parked at a Bernie campaign headquarters a few blocks away
- Met more Berners on the platform waiting for the train
- Went to Philly City Hall for the Press Conference which turned out to be a rally
- It was a huge rally; got separated from Heidi & Ken several times
- Saw Nina Turner speak
- Met up with Mel & gang
- Heidi wanted to eat so we decided to do the 3:00 march instead of the 1:00 march
- Walked across the street to a ritzy place; had a crabcake sandwich & beer; talked to two college kids who were Berners
- Jimmy Dore walked in as we were leaving!
- Said hi to Jimmy Dore and that I was a huge fan while walking out… didn’t want to bother him while he was eating
- Ken left for home
- Marched to FDR Park
- Banged on wall & protested outside the wall
- Found a spot on the lawn for the Jill Stein Power To The People Rally
- Heard others & later Jill Stein speak
- Afterward banged on fence during the rain
- Hundreds of Berners seeked shelter under an overpass walking back; some of them wanted to block up traffic; tried to stop them since it wasn’t helping anything
- Headed back to the hotel; got a shower
- Went to Wegman’s for sushi & fruit
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
- Got up & had breakfast
- Ran into Hillary supporter at breakfast; asked me where I was going today; tried to tell me Bernie will be a huge part of Hillary’s campaign & platform moving forward; doubted it heavily
- Got to the train; went to Thomas Paine Plaza for the Bernie or Bust rally
- Debbie the Sane Progressive spoke; Lee Camp spoke; YahNe Ndgo spoke
- Heidi stalked Jimmy Dore & when he was free called me over to get my picture taken with him! I told him I had a crush on him & he kissed me!!!
- Jill Stein spoke
- Got on Philly metro (SEPTA) to take it to FDR Park
- Had to exit one stop before since we weren’t allowed at the last stop (since that was for the delegates); when we got off the train people were chanting “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie”; amazing moment
- Saw the DNC put up another wall to stop us; protested at the wall; yelled to Hillary delegate that she just voted to send her children to war; cried for my cousin and my friends who are in the military
- Watched a bit of the convention in FDR Park (they had a stage & huge screens)
- More protesting at the walls
- Headed back & ran into Jill Stein walking to FDR Park; I was like two feet away from her; she spoke briefly; people swarmed around her
- Headed back to the hotel & had a shower
- Went out to dinner and ran into some Berners; had dinner with them!
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
- Got up & had breakfast
- Ran into Bernie supporters on the platform; an older guy named Dan (who looked like Robert Reich) and his trip mate, Patricia; lots of Berners did carpools and traveled together even if they didn’t know each other
- Heidi & Dan did an interview with HBO
- Black Men For Bernie Rally; a few Hillary supporters showed up; someone took one of their signs & then gave it back (hey they did it to us inside the convention); we later all hugged the Hillary supporters
- Heidi got up on stage & spoke
- Ran into Mel who got up on stage & spoke later
- Kshama Sawant spoke
- Had milkshakes at McDonald’s; spoke to a woman who didn’t know who Bernie is; spoke to a Hispanic young guy who would have been deported thanks to the crime bill but he fought it
- Listened to Jill Stein speak again :)
- They took a picture of everybody
- Headed down to FDR Park
- Heidi met LBJ’s daughter on the train
- Got stuck on the hoity toity delegate train since we couldn’t get off; had to ride it back a stop
- Banged on wall
- Listened to delegates speak at the stage
- Greg Palast spoke
- Watched Greg Palast’s new movie
- Met him & got my picture with him!
- He sat on one of our posters for a bit while we all watched his movie
- Rumor started about Bernie so they stopped the movie to address it
- Did the death of the DNC march with candles & a coffin
- A helicopter started to fly really low since hundreds of us were protesting around the wall & they got scared we were going to do something crazy
- Peace and love thing started again
- A Bernie delegate was being interviewed; told stories about how the delegates were told to remove one sign, then another, then another; if they didn’t do so they’d be kicked out; if they got up to go to the bathroom or get a snack a Hillary supporter would take their place; the whole convention was staged to make it seem like the democratic party is united when IT IS NOT
- Headed back to hotel; had debate with Hillary supporter on the way back
Thursday, July 28, 2016
- Got up & had breakfast
- Packed up & checked out of the hotel
- Headed down to Philly; no Berners on the platform since we just missed the train
- Dance party at Thomas Paine Plaza
- Saw Debbie again
- Listened to various speakers; Hillary supporters there & they spoke & BM4B debated them
- One of the BM4B guys got an email from a Hillary supporter who worked for the Pennsylvania government; read the email; horrible horrible email
- Left for home
- Stopped at Burger King along the way for food
- Ran into traffic; didn’t get home until around 7
- Sad days ahead
Pictures I’m In
Searching through the internet, pictures of the DNC and protest around it; I’ll keep track of photos I find myself in here:
- Salon – Rallies Take Over Philly
- BERN – Bernie Sanders Documentary (at about 47:22 my DNC = RNC sign can be seen)