YouthWire goes to Philadelphia: Reflections on the DNC

By Olivia Rodriguez

Ed. Note: Coachella Unincorporated Youth Reporter Olivia Rodriguez traveled to Philadelphia earlier this month to cover the Democratic National Convention. Below is a journal of her experience there, which included meetings with activists and lawmakers from around the country. Olivia writes that “as a youth reporter from a rural, unincorporated part of California,” her time at the DNC showed her how seemingly far-flung issues are connected, and how young people can make an impact on the challenges we all face.

A protest was underway around City Hall Tuesday night, my first in Philidelphia. As I walked through the crowd, I had a chance to speak with Jackie, who came with a group from Flint, Michigan to advocate for solutions to the water crisis in her city.

“We came together as a group to let it be known that the emergency [declaration] is not enough and that is why we’re here.” -Jackie

Jackie and I talked about how important it is for everyone — all Americans — to be engaged with water issues because ultimately it‘s not just Flint’s problem, it’s everyone’s.

Coming from Thermal, a rural community in California’s Eastern Coachella Valley I know first hand how we’re all impacted by issues that seem miles away. My community is near the Salton Sea, a lake that is drying because of climate change, exposing toxic debris from years of agricultural runoff. That dust, when it picks up, won’t just impact surrounding residents — there are no borders to stop the pollutants from reaching people across the globe.

As I continued to walk around City Hall, I noticed that while people were advocating for different issues — Black Lives Matter, Flint’s water crisis, or discontent with the DNC — they were protesting together, as a collective. And at the end of the day, it makes sense; just like we’re all ultimately drinking from the same water source, we’re all being impacted by these and other issues. Which means we can stand in solidarity.

Once inside the convention, I had a chance to meet California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D — Lakewood) who recently visited the Salton Sea. Rendon has made revitalization of the L.A. River a priority for his office.

“Both issues (the Salton Sea and the L.A. River) relate to issues of open space and health and anti-obesity programs,” Rendond told me. “It’s exceptionally important to the health and well-being … of the Coachella Valley but also a lot of Southern California”

I asked Speaker Rendon how young people could contribute to issues like these that impact our communities?

“Youth have a very unique perspective. I think this generation has an eye toward practical solutions and tend to leave school with a tremendous amount of practical training and that’s something that is exceptionally exciting for me. I think if they’re able to apply their skills in a meaningful way … we’ll go a long way toward making sure we address a lot of our problems.”

During the last night chants of “No more wars,” “Lies” and “No on TPP” filled the DNC arena, even as fellow Democrats in the crowd tried to silence the protests. Personally, I was happy to see people continuing to make their voices heard. I believe these issues should be given a spotlight at the convention.

Messages of collective action and voter turnout were repeatedly stressed throughout the week as ways to move forward on issues. At the #LatinoPriorities panel speakers touched on gun violence, homeownership, student loan debt and Latina wage inequality.

Here are a few snippets from the conversation:

“Latinos are not a one-issue community.”

“”There have been too many deportations.”

“Latina issues are the nation’s issues.”

“Gun violence is a public health issue, it impacts all our communities.”

At the Voto Latino forum, CEO & President Maria Teresa Kumar hosted a panel that included activist and educator Brittany Packnett, executive director of Teach For America in St. Louis. “We need to stop calling ourselves minorities,” said Packnett, “we’re the global majority.”

“Habla y Vota,” speak and vote, was the message delivered by veteran journalist Jorge Ramos, who recalled his confrontation with GOP presidential contender Donald Trump. “‘Go back to ‘Univision,’ those are code words,” said Ramos, referring to Trump’s dismissal of his questions around the nominee’s proposed plan to build a wall on the U.S. border and deport millions of immigrants. Ramos was eventually escorted out of the Trump press conference by security.

I will not be silenced at the polls. And I recognize that in many ways I am not only representing myself at the polls, I am representing my parents, my community and the many people who do not have this right despite this nation being their home and where they’re impacted just as much — if not even more — by the issues that permeate our communities.

Tom Steyer is an environmentalist and philanthropist. He is also the founder and president of Next Generation, an organization committed to addressing climate change. I had the chance to speak with Steyer about his recent visit to the Salton Sea.

“Because it’s not that populated and because it’s away from a dense population center, people want to try to forget about it, which we can’t because not only will it affect people who live there, it will also affect the people where the air leads to.” 
 
 Steyer continued, “So we know that whole area has a number of dramatic environmental problems that are crying out for solutions. It’s a question of making sure that you prioritize it highly enough so that you actually do the things that are necessary.”

On the last day of the convention, I got a chance to speak to several Latino politicians, including L.A. Councilmember Gill Cedillo and L.A.’s first Latino mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. I asked them about this year’s election and what it means for our community.

“Not one more,” said Cedillo of the record number of deportations that have been carried out these past few years. Cedillo played a significant role in authoring and pushing through passage of the California Dream Act, which gave undocumented students in the state access to financial aid.

“It’s the most important election in my lifetime,” said Villaraigosa, “every 4 years they say that, but this one’s different. I’ve never seen a candidate quite like Donald Trump. I’ve never seen someone who would argue that we ought to put a wall between the United States and Mexico, deport 11 million people, close down mosques, bar Muslims from entering the country, make fun of and discourage women and people with disabilities, basically want to wall off the United States from the rest of the world.”

And, Villaraigosa said, Trump talks like this “because he can, because [Latinos] don’t vote in the numbers that we need to because frankly we’re not engaged in the political process in the way that we need to be.”

Asked about how to better engage Latino voters, Villaraigosa said the challenge lies in reaching younger, poorer and less educated voters, “and those are big demographics in the Latino community. Our voice needs to be heard; 54 million and growing and we need to participate.”

He added, “We got our work cut out for us.”

As the DNC came to an end, I reflected back on my experience, on my meetings with activists and lawmakers from around the country. It was great to have the opportunity as a youth reporter from a rural unincorporated part of California to hear from these people and to ask my own questions about issues close to home for me.

It really is a different experience being at the convention as opposed to seeing it on television, where you only get to see certain angles that usually don’t have anything to do with you. I left the convention thinking about the impact the experience had on me, and about the impact that youth can have if they had more access to these kinds of spaces.