Philadelphia hasn’t hosted a Democratic National Convention since 1948, though it did welcome the Republican National Convention in 2000.
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The floor of Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center – the site of the 2016 Democratic National Convention – on Thursday morning still featured the staging from a NBA game when at least 500 members of the media from more than 100 outlets across the country took their seats for a conversation about logistics before taking a self-guided tour of the City’s premiere arena.
I was seated on the second row, in arm’s reach of a podium that rested on a riser and looked towards me.
Come July 25th, where I sat will be considered backstage, though a podium will still be in roughly the same space, only it’ll be of a greater quality and sit on a much more elaborate platform.
“It will look like a different venue,” said Reverend Leah Daughtry, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee.
The staging will be meant to evoke democracy and inspire people, the reverend added.
“This will be one of the best conventions that anyone has attended in the last few decades,” said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who noted his team put together “a competitive and comprehensive bid.”
Philadelphia hasn’t hosted a Democratic National Convention since 1948, though it did welcome the Republican National Convention in 2000.
Mr. Nutter wasn’t the Mayor then, of course, but he was there. In fact, the West Philadelphia born politico has, as a delegate, been to every convention since 1992.
“We could not have a better convention planning partner than Michael Nutter,” Rev. Daughtry, the only person to hold the position of CEO of the DNCC (she always led in 2008) twice, said before revealing she began engaging the convention (as a staffer not a delegate) also in 1992.
At every convention a “free speech zone” is erected in the vicinity (though not in the arena) of the convention’s main activities, the reverend assured the audience, and 2016’s will be no exception, though the exact location has yet to be determined.
A free speech zone is where protesters are regulated, and, according to Rev. Daughtry, given the national climate, protests are expected and organizers are factoring it into the planning.
In an exclusive interview with Techbook Online, Rev. Daughtry, when asked whether the convention will make room for social movements like Black Lives Matter, said “you will see a lot of those concerns reflected in the programming.”
“Every vote counts. Concerns and issues of the citizenry have to be part of the dialogue with the American people as we’re seeking to represent them in the White House,” Rev. Daughtry said.
She continued:
“What you’ve seen from our candidates so far – Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley – is the willingness to engage with young activists… people who are protesting about various things: immigration and Black Lives Matter. They’ve been willing to engage and have the conversation, not just from 10,000 feet away and from podiums, but also one-on-one.”
According to the reverend, engaging protesters isn’t the only thing that sets the Democrats a part from their counterparts: “If you watch the conventions, you’ll see a stark contrast in diversity among our delegates versus the Republican Party’s delegates.”
Watching these national conventions, for some, may be just be about seeing who will actually grab the nomination from their party and vie for the presidency. But there’s something much larger at play during these gatherings, the reverend suggested: a lesson in civics.
“Conventions are a snap shot in time. If you’re trying to understand the political process, if you want to engage and you’re not sure of a direction, watch the conventions; the convention helps you understand who the parties are from top-to-bottom, not just the nominee, but the delegates.”
As expected, there’s much excitement about the impending four-day event, which Mr. Nutter, who’s term as Mayor ends at the beginning of January, said will be less taxing on the city than the Papal Visit.
But how can we build that same level of engagement and interest in local elections? Low voter turnout isn’t just an issue in Philadelphia, but one the entire nation is grappling with.
The Washington Post reported that “General election voter turnout for the 2014 midterms was the lowest it’s been in any election cycle since World War II.”
Philadelphia Mayor-Elect, Mr. Jim Kenney, said the low voter turnout is because people feel like they’re not being listened to; “they don’t see themselves as a part of the decision-making process,” he said.
Rev. Daughtry suggested the people need to become more assertive, reminding themselves they’re the taxpayers; they’re the bosses.
“‘We the people’ mean something significant, it’s time for us to believe in it,” she said.
‘Exploring Generations of Black Activism,’ a live broadcast featuring black male thought-leaders on Saturday, December 19th, 2015 beginning at 1pm EST and heard exclusively on www.TheDrVibeShow.com, will be moderated by Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris.
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