Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention was quite packed. They had Bill Clinton, they had Oprah Winfrey and they had the Vice Presidential candidate, Tim Walz who came on sprightly to accept his Party’s nomination.
Ever the teacher and coach, he could not help but wrap up his speech with a football analogy. Here he goes—-“We are in the 4th quarter. We are one down. The ball is in our hands——-.”
Stevie Wonder was on hand to speak and to sing. He spoke about love and joy and hope and then, he sang a signature tune: “Teachers keep on teaching, believers, keep on believing——“It was vintage Stevie led on stage by a young man who bore striking resemblance to him.
Then, came the Jewish family. Their son, 23 years old, is one of the remaining 109 hostages in the hands of Hamas in Gaza. They spoke about their hope for a commonsense deal that stops the war in Gaza and brings the hostages back home. The hostage’s father wrapped up with a profound message: “Every man is a universe. We have a duty to save all universes. In a competition for pain, there are no winners,” he concluded.
At this point, the camera zoomed to Ilhan Omar, a Muslim, Somalian-American member of Congress. I was hoping they would bring someone like that to give an alternative narrative to the Jewish family for balancing. They did not.
A bright spot for the night came in form of the former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan.
His speech was to the point: “I am a Republican, but tonight, I stand here as an American. Our party is crazy. Let’s dump Trump.
Our party is a cult worshipping a thug. Kamala is a steady hand. Voting for Kamala does not make you a Democrat, it makes you a patriot. Doing the right thing will never be the wrong thing. You know the right thing to do my fellow Republicans. You need the courage to do it.”
A former Capitol police officer who immigrated from Dominican Republic at age 12, enlisted in the Army and who fought in Iraq took the stage.
He said: “As a police officer, I took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. Donald Trump betrayed us on January 6th. I love this country. Why can’t he?”
And then comes Hakeem Jeffries, Speaker of the House.
He was all Prose, Poetry and Hip-Hop. “Kamala,” he said, “is fighting for our future. The American dream should not be out of reach. We will fight hard to make sure the American dream is alive and well.”
He went on to describe Trump as an old boyfriend who was finding it difficult to accept the fact that his girlfriend had broken up with him. “Bro, we broke up with you for a reason. You need to go away. We’re not going back. We are choosing people over politics.”
Prose meets poetry with Hakeem Jeffries.
He was fabulous last night. He’s hip hop.
Bill Clinton walks in. You could only thank God for creating a man like that. He stands upright still. His voice is faint. His steps are much slower. Time, work, age, illness—-all of these have exacted a toll on him. He is weak but his intellect is intact. He thanked Joe Biden effusively for giving up power voluntarily. He called it a rare virtue just like the example of George Washington. “That was George Washington’s legacy. That’s Joe’s legacy,” he said.
“Biden,” he continued, took the helm in the throes of COVID. “He healed our sick and put us back to work. I want to thank Biden for his courage compassion and class.”
“I’m 78–but I’m still younger than Donald Trump,” he quipped.
He continued to paint a contrast between Kamala’s team and Trump. He described Kamala and Walz as “Two leaders whose careers started in the courtroom and classroom.” He went on, “Will our next president bring us together or tear us apart?
We the people must make our decisions. It’s time to pick between two worlds. Kamala Harris and the people versus me myself and I. We need a team that will work to solve our problems ease our fears and give us a chance to make our dreams come true. We have an election to win. Donald creates and curates chaos as if it were precious art. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for the opportunity to serve. Even on the darkest days there was something good to do. The next time you hear him, there’s no need to count the lies. Just count the I’s.”
Bill, the historian went on to drop a fun fact. He said since 1989, America has created 51 million jobs, 50m by Democratic Administrations and I million by Republicans. I found that quite interesting. Here’s a matter that needs to be further interrogated.
Really?
Bill concluded, “We have a long road to travel. We need the President of joy to lead us.”
Oprah started by quoting Late John Lewis, the great man from Georgia who in his lifetime was always quick and proud to say — “I marched with Dr. King.”
Even as I write the line, my eyes well with tears. Many immigrants from Africa have little appreciation for that profound statement. Know ye, my brothers and sisters that people were imprisoned, brutalized, and killed for us to get the right to vote or even use the same water fountain. So, when Oprah speaks to these things, everyone should pay attention.
She is from Mississippi.
Mississippi was so bad, Nina Simone sang a song titled: Mississippi Goddam.
The song stung so much, it was banned.
John Lewis said—“It does not matter what ship your ancestors or my ancestors came by—we are all in one boat now.” True.
She spoke about taking Trump for his word. He means everything he says. “We must pay attention to his well crafted Project 2025,” she says. “It is a throwback to Jim Crow.” Hear her, “We must leave here to do something. Freedom is what matters to us. It is not Us against Them—-they say books are dangerous but assault weapons are safe.—- I’ve traveled the world. I’ve traveled throughout the length and breadth of this country. There are good people everywhere, liberal or conservative who will help you in a heartbeat. These are the people who make me proud. These are complicated times and we need adults in the room. If a woman cannot control her own body, there’s no American dream. We need someone like Kamala Harris who will challenge people at the top and protect those at the bottom. She represents the best of America, a child of two immigrants. Voting is the best of America. I’m an independent. I vote my values. Values and character matter. Decency and respect are on the ballot. Let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to a man. Let us choose commonsense over nonsense. Let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the cynicism of yesterday. Let us choose joy and let us choose freedom. That’s the best of America,” she concluded to a loud ovation.
The evening wrapped up with those ringing words from Tim Walz—- “They are not only weird. They are also wrong.”
Tonight, the little girl who had to be bused in the wake of Civil Rights and desegregation to get a good education in a white neighborhood speaks.
She will be accepting her Party’s nomination.
May God go with her, and may God bless the United States of America.
