On Saturday, Youth Radio reporters and producers landed in Philadelphia to cover the Democratic National Convention. On Sunday, we hit the streets to check out protests and the convention venue. Here are some of our favorite moments from the day before the DNC in Philadelphia.
While many kids won’t be able to vote this election, you don’t have to look far to find them on the streets talking politics, many with their parents. The youngest we found were these guys in the photo above. They were from the Perry and Wilgus families. According to one of their moms, Julie Wilgus, “We try our best to never miss a protest.”
One 16-year-old girl from Connecticut at the same protest carried a flag for clean energy with her father. Another young man alongside his mom came for political reasons, but admitted he mainly wanted to make sure she was okay. And two twin siblings — Sean and Rebecca (below) — were Bernie Sanders supporters happy to talk but not to give their last name. Rebecca said she was motivated to come to Philadelphia because “the outcome of this election will have a longer impact than it would for an older person. So we’re really keeping in mind that whatever changes a new president will make will affect us the most because we’ll have to live with it the longest.”
One of the most exciting moments of the day was when Black Men For Bernie showed up.
While the protests were predominantly white, the loudest cheers came when the black Bernie Sanders supporters made a grand entrance with their very own bus.
The police were out, but they were sparse, smiling, and friendly to protestors from what we saw. In fact, we convinced Officers Day and Hughes pictured below to strike a pose.
I even saw one officer take a photo for a group of protestors. Most were just standing on the sides trying to find shade in the hot and humid weather.
While the DNC was still in prep mode on Sunday, the stars were already making their way to Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.
Paul Simon, of Simon and Garfunkel fame, rehearsed “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with an entire band and visuals playing in the background to a crowd of groupie journalists and political staffers in the 30+ age range.
Full disclosure: half of the Youth Radio team didn’t know who Simon was (although I did), and the other half gleefully embarrassed themselves. You know who you are. But people do silly things when it comes to politics — at least we’re not sending shady emails #DNCleaks.