Last updated on December 15, 2021
Last night concluded the third of four nights of the Democratic National Convention. The theme of the convention was “A More Perfect Nation” and was moderated by Kerry Washington on Wednesday night. Speeches were given by Vice Presidential Candidate Kalama Harris, Former President Barack Obama, Former First Lady and 2016 Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton, and many more, including a performance by Billie Eilish. In case you missed it, here is everything that you need to know.
“We the people want a future free of gun violence.”
The first video shown at the convention begins by showing young people from Kansas and Florida describing their experiences of going into lockdown in their high schools because of a shooter being on their school campuses.
The video includes the story of Deandra Dycu’s son, Dre Dycus, as well as a speech from former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Dre Dycus was shot by a stray bullet at the age of 13 while dancing at a birthday party. He is now parazlyed, unable to feed or bathe himself, and cannot speak.
Former Congresswomen Giffords was shot in the head during her assassination attempt on January 8th 2011 and retired from Congress in 2012. Giffords worked with her speech therapist to deliver a speech to the nation within this video. In the video she states, “Words once came easily, today I struggle to speak but I have not lost my voice.”
“We the people want a leader in the existential fight against climate change.”
This Biden promotional video begins with a call for the government to move from using fossil fuels to finding renewable energy sources. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks in this video from a field in her home state surrounded by solar panels. Grishman explains how in her state she was able to expand environmental protections as well as taking on polluters and holding them accountable for their actions.
We then heard from three young climate change activists. One of the activists expresses how she was personally affected from wild fires in California. Another talking about how unpredicting rainfalls have affected the growth of his family’s crops and how his family has resulted to using ecofriendly ways of farming. He says that other farmers can switch to these methods too, but they need the government’s help. The third activist, a young woman from Nevada, expressing how in low income areas, such as her own, pollution rate is higher than in higher income areas. She goes on to express that many children in these areas suffer from asthma as well.
After the video ended, Kerry Washington introduced Billie Eilish who performed her new song, “My Future,” for the first time. Washington stated that Eilish, “worked to ensure that her most recent concert tour was green and sustainable,” as well as, “held registration drives before her shows signing up thousands of voters.” Before Eilish’s performance she stated herself that, “Donald Trump is destroying our country and everything we care about.”
Keeping Immigrant Families Together
A video titled, “A letter to Donald Trump on Immigration” was shown after Eilish’s performance. 11-year-old Estela Juarez reads a letter to the president about how her mother illegally entered the United States as a teenager over twenty years ago. She talks about how her mother married her father, an ex-Marine, how she worked hard, paid taxes, and had started a family in America. Estela states that her father voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election because he believed that Trump would protect military families. However, after the Obama Administration declared that Estela’s mother could stay in America, the Trump Administration had her deported to Mexico, even though she lived in America for most of her life.
The next video shown was of the Sanchez Family. Silvia Sanchez travelled to the Unite States boarder decades ago with her newborn daughter, diagnosed with spinal bifida, with hopes of saving her daughter’s life. Although they have been living in the United States ever since, Silvia’s disabled daughter cannot receive healthcare because the Trump Administration took away her ability to apply for DOCA after she had previously qualified.
A sperate video narrated by former President Barack Obama was played titled: “Immigrants Rebuilding America.” In the video he talks about how unless you are directly descendent from Native Americans then we are all immigrants whether our ancestors came her by their free will or not. When talking about immigrants in America he states, “Immigrants are the teachers who inspire our children, they’re the doctors that keep up healthy, they’re the engineers who design our skylines and the artists and the entertainers who touch our hearts. Immigrants are soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guards who protect us.”
America rising: From Women’s Suffrage to the Women’s March
A video was shown at the convention acknowledging the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in America. The video begins with the suffrage movement and displays how now 100 years later, women are still using their voices to speak for what they believe in. The video shows clips of women activists from children to elders as well as women taking stands for what they believe in throughout decades in Congress. When talking about powerful women the video states, “she knows her voice is heard and amplified by the women she elects to public office.”
Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi
Hillary Clinton, former First Lady and 2016 Presidential Candidate, delivered a live speech at the Democratic National Convention last night. Clinton proclaimed early in her speech, “I wish Donald Trump knew how to be a President because America needs a President right now.” She urged the country to vote for healthcare for all, social security, planned parenthood, and justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many more. When talking about Kamala Harris, Clinton stated, “I know something about the slings and arrows she’ll face and believe me this former district attorney and attorney general can handle them all.”
Nancy Pelosi, current Speaker of the House, spoke after Clinton. Pelosi endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by repeating more than once that Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump are standing in the way of progress being made in America. Within her speech she states, “As speaker of the house I’ve seen Donald Trump’s disrespect for facts, for working families, and for women in particular. Disrespect written into his policies toward our health and our rights, not just his conduct.”
Speaking out Against Domestic Violence
Ruth Glenn, CEO and President of The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Carly Dryer, a sexual assault survivor and activist, and SVU star Mariska Hargitay provided their approval of Joe Bidden and his continuation of the “It’s on Us” campaign to bring awareness and to fight against sexual assault on college campuses for both men and women.
Bringing Back Jobs
Former United States Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, gave her approval of Biden and Harris in a video shown at the convention. In the video Solis supported Biden and Harris’s ideas of bringing back supply chains and investing in clean energy to create jobs as well as making sure that working class families can afford childcare.
Another video was shown feature four different business owners expressing the devastating tolls that the Coronavirus and lack of support from their government. A small family business in Ohio, a black woman’s newly opened clothing store, a young woman forcibly closing of one of her restaurants, and a 5th generation farmer. All four of these different, but similar, business owners have received no help from the government while their business had begun to fail.
The young clothing store owner, Gurnee Green, reached out to her bank, but her bank informed her that all the money was lent out to bigger billion-dollar businesses. The restaurant owner, Lien Ta, had to furlough 100 of her employees. The farmer, Dan Ryner, blames President Trump’s Trade Deal for the failure of his business. The farm that he runs was founded in 1864.
Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama
Senator Elizabeth Warren provided a speech during the third night of the Democratic National Convention. She shows her support for Biden and Harris’s plan to make childcare affordable to all and to increase the wage of childcare workers. Within her speech she also states, “our economic system has been ridged to give bail outs to billionaires and kick dirt into the face of everyone else.”
Former President Barack Obama after Senator Warren for almost twenty minutes. Obama gave his true opinion of the Trump Administration stating, “This administration will tear down this democracy if that’s what it takes for them to win.” He expresses his concerns about the Trump Administration attempting to make it harder for American citizen to vote, convincing them that their votes do not matter. When talking about Joe Biden, Obama describes how Biden leads with his empathy. He explains that Biden puts himself into the shoes of every individual he is talking to. Obama spoke very highly of Harris describing her by saying, “Who is more than prepared for the job. Someone who knows what it is like to overcome barriers and whose made a career fighting to help others live out their American dream.”
Kamala Harris
The night ended with Kalama Harris formally accepting the nomination for Democratic Vice President Candidate of the United States. She began her speech showing gratitude to her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who immigrated to America when she was 19 from India with a dream of curing cancer. She would meet Harris’s father, a Jamaican immigrant, have two daughters with him, and as a single mother raise those daughters to be proud of their heritage and that family, in all different shapes and sizes, come first. Harris’s mother ultimately passed away of cancer.
Within her speech, Harris accepts the nomination by stating that she will, “do so committed to the values she [Shyamala] taught me.” Harris also states towards the end of her speech that, “There is no vaccine for racism. We have got to do the work, for George Floyd, for Breonna Taylor, for the lives of too many others to name, for our children, and for all of us.”
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