Delegates, journalists, police officers, volunteers and others waited in long lines at food trucks to grab a quick bite before working the Democratic National Convention on its closing day. The smells of fried fish, birria, elotes, tacos, and cajun shrimp filled the air in a small area outside the arena just minutes before the program began.
The United Center was packed with approximately 25,000 people scrambling to find a seat. A-list actors, musical performers, iconic civil rights leaders, and, the star of the night, Vice President Kamala Harris, brought the crowd to a thunderous roar countless times.
For the first time, the DNC invited content creators and social media influencers. Two hundred of them were brought in to interview big names—in special areas to deliver instant updates to millions of followers on platforms around the world. It was of no surprise why some credentialed reporters complained about cramped seating and lack of attention.
The evening’s soundtrack was indeed a reflection of the Democrats’ goal to reach people on all political sides.
Between speeches, DJ Metro got the crowd dancing and singing along with a mix of music from “Get Low” to “Despacito,” to “Texas Hold’em” and even Bruce Springsteen’s classic, “Born in the USA,” which Harris’ VP pick Tim Walz sang along to.
Notable moments included the crowd’s one-minute-long standing ovation and longest applause for Elizabeth Warren, who was moved to tears. The progressive Massachusetts senator ran for president in 2020. “You know what I love about Kamala Harris? She can’t be bought and she can’t be bossed around,” Warren said during her speech.
Aside from offering words of support for Harris, on Friday night Warren and other Democrats boldly remind the assembled delegates and millions of viewers of Trump’s convictions. “Donald Trump, the felon, has no plans to lower costs for families,” she said. “When did he ever fill up a gas tank or worry about a grocery bill?”
In a fiery speech, Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a passionate message that referenced Trump’s racist remarks weeks earlier, when he claimed at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago that migrants were taking “Black jobs.”
“This man said here in Chicago a few weeks ago, refusing to apologize for claims that migrants were taking Black jobs. Well in November, we’re gonna show him, when Blacks do their jobs. And we are going to join with whites, and Browns and Asians and we are going to do a job on those who have done a job on us.”
Sharpton also introduced members of the Central Park Five, who were wrongly convicted of rape and assault in Central Park in New York City in 1989.
They were later exonerated and the city awarded them $41 million in 2014, after the five men had already served forty-one years in prison. Trump supported bringing back the death penalty in the case, even after the exoneration.
Out of the five, four appeared on the stage: Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana and Kevin Richardson and they addressed the arena.
“He wanted us dead. Today, we are exonerated,” said Salaam, who is now a New York City Council member.
“Our youth was stolen from us,” Wise said. “We were innocent kids, but we served a total of forty-one years in prison.”
The case for national security dominated the night and people’s patriotic chants of “USA, USA, USA” were thunderous throughout, synonymous with American exceptionalism.
Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta walked up to the stage to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” notably featured in the movie Rocky.
His speech didn’t get as much applause as other speakers, but he took a strong stance as he reminded people that under his role as CIA director, the U.S. killed Osama Bin Laden during a nighttime raid in Pakistan. “Because nobody attacks our country and gets away with it, nobody.”
Panetta added that the U.S. needs a “tough, cool-headed Commander-in-Chief” and that Harris is the person for the job. “Trump tells tyrants like Putin they can do whatever the hell they want. Kamala Harris tells tyrants, ‘the hell you can, not on my watch.’”
He had a strong message about Ukraine’s sovereignty, which he said under Trump was vulnerable. Harris “has worked with president Zelensky to fight back against Russia, she knows that protecting their democracy protects our democracy as well.”
In general, the positive messages on immigration during the DNC contrast heavily with Trump’s rhetoric at the RNC and delegates there waving “Mass Deportation Now!” signs.
But it remained unclear how the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India would approach immigration. Harris juxtaposed two promises to appeal to varying sides: securing the border and creating a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented individuals living in the United States. The latter is something Democrats have promised time and again.
“Here is my pledge to you,” Harris said. “As President, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill…. And I will sign it into law…I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system.”
But the most poignant of issues that evening was Israel’s war on Gaza. Through the night, at different times, “uncommitted” protesters inside the venue wearing keffiyehs symbolizing Palestinian solidarity gathered arm-in-arm and to demand a ceasefire.
Harris began with her support of Israel’s self-defense, which prompted several in the audience to yell “Free Palestine!”
Eventually, her speech was met with loud cheers and applause after she expressed support for ending the suffering in Gaza, negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, releasing hostages, and recognizing Palestinian people’s dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.
Despite pleas from pro-Palestinian delegates, Palestinian Americans were denied a speaking slot at the convention.
Convention workers on Thursday evening popped thousands of red, white, and blue balloons that had fallen down on the arena after Harris accepted her nomination and met her husband Douglas Emhoff, Walz and his wife Gwen on the stage.
After congratulatory moments, the teleprompters read, “Get off the stage” to let them know that it was over.
The food truck vendors were long gone and convention-goers were ordering ride-shares, taking the train home, or heading to afterparties. Journalists scattered amid the crowds on their work assignments, some on their way home to write. Smiling content creators wrapped up the highlights of the night to followers online behind a blue-and-white United Center backdrop.
Democratic supporters filtered out of the event carrying signs that read “Kamala” and some even rescued a couple of leftover balloons as souvenirs. As they made their way home, attendees were met with the chants of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the street. A strong cordon of police surrounded the space.
Thousands of demonstrators had been protesting outside the convention for four days calling on Democrats to do more to end the war in Gaza, such as putting an end to weapons shipments to Israel.
Some signs read, “All Palestine be Returned to Palestinian Sovereignty” and “Democrats Fund the Genocide of Palestinians.” They were not going home just yet.
Alma Campos is a senior editor at the Weekly.
