Deeper than I’ve ever dreamed of.
Yesterday was the first day of the Democratic National Convention in my hometown of Philadelphia, and just as I did for the RNC, I watched the ending speech at home because I was in school when the whole thing started.
The first huge difference is that even from the beginning, the speakers at the DNC didn’t try to scare me shitless. In fact, I’ve never felt so proud to be an American. I felt together with the people, even though I’m 3000 miles away from the convention. I felt unified.
And as much as I enjoyed Sen. Bernie Sanders’s speech, which I saw as a clear attempt to unify the party and bring his voters over to Hillary’s side, it wasn’t the best speech of the night. Sure, it was the most important speech, but definitely not the best.
There were two speeches last night that stood out to me. Two speeches that were so incredibly uplifting, with one actually making me tear up. Two speeches filled with deep emotion. These speeches were by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and First Lady Michelle Obama.
If we’re going to be totally honest here, I have never heard of Cory Booker before. I’m from Philly, and most people from Philly don’t like New Jersey because it’s New Jersey. The only good things in New Jersey are the shore and Roy Rogers. So, to no surprise, the person who is Sen. Cory Booker was someone who I didn’t know and didn’t really care to know.
But his speech yesterday changed my mind.
Booker’s speech was filled with hope, love, and unity. His being was filled with so much passion for this speech, passion that I haven’t seen in years, and definitely didn’t see at the RNC. He used Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise to create the line that brought his speech together: “America, we will rise.” He called America a “nation of love,” but also went to call out Trump as a bully, saying, “America, at our best, we stand up to bullies. And we fight those who seek to demean and degrade other Americans. In times of crisis, we don’t abandon our values; we double down on them.” He also says, “Cynicism is a refuge for cowards, and this nation is, and must always be, the home of the brave.” My favorite part of Booker’s speech was right after he, along with many of the people in the crowd, recited the first verse of Still I Rise:
“Escaped slaves, knowing that liberty is not secure for some until it’s secure for all. Sometimes hungry, often hunted in the dark woods and deep swamps, they looked up to the North Star and said with a determined whisper, ‘America, we will rise.'”
Booker’s speech was powerful and moving, and like many other people out there, I sure wouldn’t mind if I saw this man on the ballot in 2020.
I have never seen a bad speech by Michelle Obama. She is simply an amazing speaker, and always speaks with so much heart and emotion. But yesterday, Michelle’s speech moved me. It literally moved me to tears.
The First Lady’s speech was not focused on policies like many of the other politicians’ speeches were. Her speech was focused on our future, and the children who will be our future. Her speech focused more so on Hillary Clinton’s character than her policies, a much needed view given that Clinton’s character is something so highly in question. Her speech was uplifting, and she mentioned the bully of Donald Trump without even mentioning his name. She says of bullies, “When they go low, we go high,” and goes on to say later, “[I want] someone who understands the issues a President faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.” She unified and uplifted people, stressed that America is stronger together, and to care and love for one another, and to set a good example for the children.
I have never cried during any type of election speech before. But the line that brought me to tears went as follows:
“The stories of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters, two beautiful intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”
Even typing this quote brings about a whole slew of emotions. This quote is so incredibly powerful, so incredibly uplifting, and tells everyone that no matter who you are and where you come from, you can achieve great success. If you work hard and don’t let anyone get in your head, you can succeed. And this is what I took away from Michelle Obama’s speech, which was the best speech I have ever seen at any National Convention.
This election is the first election in which I had a hard time choosing the candidate that I support. My family has always been largely interested in politics, and even in 2000, at the age of 6, I was taught about the political system and the very basic differences of the two major parties of the system, and supported Al Gore. Since then, I have always been able to side with a candidate, and in 2012, my first voting election, I easily sided with the incumbent because I supported him so much in 2008, the first election that truly moved me. I didn’t vote in the CA primaries unfortunately, because I never got my mail in ballot got mailed to my old address and I was in Philadelphia at the time of the primary. But, even at the time of the primaries, I was torn between the Bernie and Hillary. I do believe that Hillary probably should be in jail, but I didn’t agree with all of Bernie’s policies, as with Hillary as well. I look back now and know that I probably would have voted for Bernie, but it doesn’t matter anymore.
We are not in a democratic society where the third party is a viable option. In this day and age, voting for a third party candidate is like voting for the party that you oppose. I have hope that voting for Hillary is like voting for a third term Obama (can we overlook the 22nd Amendment just for this election?), and I generally agree with a lot of her policies. And it would be incredibly powerful that a woman could be our President, even if it is a looney like Hillary.
But we need to vote. In this election, it is SO important.
Jess B 