2016 DNC Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk: The Magazines for New and North Castle

Newtown Film Captures Community Pain — and Resilience

July 28, 2016 by The Inside Press

(L-R): Daniel’s parents, Mark and Jackie Barden; filmmakers, Kim Snyder and Maria Cuomo Cole; Congressman David Price, Vice Chair of the House Democrats' Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. A panel discussion followed the screening of "Newtown," which was moderated by Hunter Schwarz, National political reporter, Independent Journal Review. — (L-R): Daniel’s parents, Mark and Jackie Barden; filmmakers, Kim Snyder and Maria Cuomo Cole; Congressman David Price, Vice Chair of the House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. A panel discussion followed the screening of “Newtown,” which was moderated by Hunter Schwarz of the Independent Journal Review.

By Grace Bennett

Philadelphia, July 27 — When a parent who lost a child to the Sandy Hook massacre speaks of the need for us all to move forward, it is impossible not to feel your own resolve turn to steel.

The Bardens lost their six year old son Daniel, one of 20 first grade children and six educators gunned down on December 14, 2012 by Adam Lanza, who had easy access to military style assault weaponry in his home.

It seemed the entire world mourned and the surviving families where inundated with letters, drawings, etc.. But despite the intense outpouring, a raw pain still plagues the survivors interviewed; and some feel ready to reconcile that it may be an impossible one to erase. The parents describe how they struggle to maintain connections to the very spirit of their children, who live on inside them. One mother pointed to a room full of boxes of the letters and gifts that she is just starting to look at three years later. “We go on for the (surviving) children,” who are “miraculously still smiling and playing,” another parent related.

The movie’s powerful impact was not via graphic descriptions of what transpired in the classroom where the children died but rather achieved by conveying the intense pain and conflicting emotions–and also the dreams…the dreams…ones in which their children are still alive or one mother’s dream that she died holding her child (“at least I could be with him”). An emotional roller coaster may best describe the daily lives and consciousness of the survivors, surviving neighbors, siblings and good friends, and of the community at large.

Filmed over the course of three years, the filmmakers were granted unique access. There was never before heard testimony to depict the aftermath of the 2012 deadliest mass shooting of of school children in U.S. history. In Newtown, 12/14 is a day that changed…everything. But many, like the Bardens, continue to fight the gun lobby through the efforts of www.weareallNewtown.org and other advocacy groups, members of which were in attendance too.

“We are hoping for a ripple effect from this film,” commented Newtown’s director Kim Snyder. “We are using the film to reframe gun violence as a public health issue.”
Producer Maria Cuomo Cole called Newtown a “metaphor for what has happened to communities around the country. The unfortunate series of events since…people are scared in an unprecedented way.”

“I don’t see how anyone can see this film without being moved,” said Congressman David Price, vice chair of the House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. The issues surrounding gun prevention violence, he said, “have become a front and center, major presidential issue.”

Indeed, President Obama addressed gun violence in his speech last night, and his heartbreaking feelings of helplessness following Sandy Hook in particular. The issue–and a promise to never quit fighting the NRA–has been a prominent part of the Hillary Clinton campaign in her bid to be elected president.

Mark Barden urges everyone to get involved and described how he and his wife became “accidental advocates. I’m not proud that it took the loss of our little Daniel. Like so many Americans, we were disengaged. Now we will do whatever we can to prevent others from experiencing this kind of pain.”

Roll Call for Hillary’s Nomination: A Moving Experience

July 27, 2016 by Inside Press

By Susan Youngwood

When Jerry Emmett, age 102, took the microphone during the roll call and announced that Arizona cast “51 votes for the next president of the United States of America, Hillary Rodham Clinton,” the crowd cheered and waved signs. Emmett had been born before women had the right to vote, and now was nominating a woman as president.

A lump formed in my throat.

This was really happening.

I have always loved the roll call. Snuck in between speeches and videos, no longer shown during prime time, it’s when states take a minute or two to cite some pretty funky facts before giving the vote total.

New Jersey Senator Corey Booker was transfixed too.

This year at the Democratic National Convention, we learned that New York is the birthplace of women’s rights. Rhode Island has the best restaurants. Connecticut is the home of pizza and hamburgers and Utah has the greatest snow on earth. It’s a moment of levity during a serious process.

Instead of watching on television, which is where I’ve always experienced this rituaI, I spent an hour on the convention floor during the roll call. There are several levels of passes at the convention — Inside Chappaqua got one pass that granted us a seat in the nosebleed section, where the speakers are a tiny speck in the distance. But we’re able to trade that seat for a floor pass for an hour, and I used my time Tuesday night during roll call.

The floor — aka the Philadelphia 76ers basketball court — is where you find the delegates. Each state sits together. Some delegates wear crazy hats and shirts adorned with flags; donkeys; red, white and blue glitter; and pithy sayings. There are lots of buttons and hand-drawn signs.

But the delegates are only a small part of the rowdiness on the convention floor.

Media and security, officials and I don’t even know who else crowd the aisles and sit on stairs. Photographers carrying bulky cameras jostle elbows with reporters using their cell phone cameras. Security continuously shouts “keep moving” and “don’t stand there” to clear a narrow aisle for people to walk. Media interviews are happening every few feet.

The big media sit in 11 tiers of blue-covered tables off to the side — they have real surfaces with electric outlets.

During the roll call on Tuesday night, reporters tightly clustered in two places. One was near the New York delegation which had the best seats in the house, right in front of the podium. The other was off to the corner, and it took awhile for me to realize they wanted to be close to the Vermont delegation. Rumor was that Bernie Sanders was going to speak last. I caught a glimpse of Andrea Mitchell from NBC news.

Whenever a state’s name was called, that delegation would cheer and the audience would peer around to find their location. After announcing the vote totals, everyone waved their signs and yelled “Hillary” and “Bernie.” Some states got louder applause than others — mainly the large ones with big vote totals.

Not all was joyous. I walked by a furious argument between the delegates of one southern state as they debated which politician got the honor of standing next to the microphone. All politics is local.

As I scanned the crowd, letting the experience sink into my every pore and synapse, I noticed U.S. Senator Cory Booker. He was in the front of the New Jersey delegation, his eyes intently focused on the podium. Every now and then someone whispered to him, or asked to take a photo, and he’d smile and pose. As soon as the interaction ended, he turned to the podium, tilted his head up, and concentrated on the roll call.

There was a childlike look of wonder in his eyes. This was democracy, and he was drinking it in. He loved this and he clearly deeply believed in this process. He didn’t want to miss one one second. Watching his joy intensified my own appreciation of what I was witnessing — the peaceful change of power.

After the hour, I sprinted back to my seat in the rafters. I was sitting next to a friend, someone I had worked with in Vermont. We watched Bernie Sanders, once our U.S. senator, declare Hillary Clinton the Democratic Party nominee. We contained our tears. It was a moment that managed to be both public but acutely personal, too.

Young Democrats Working to Get Out the Millennial Vote

July 26, 2016 by The Inside Press

“It shows that young people should have a seat at the table.” Stephanie Hausner

By Susan Youngwood

Kristina Contreras Fox and Stephanie Hausner at the Young Democrats of America booth at the Democratic National Convention.

Stephanie Hausner of New City, NY, was inspired to run for office partly thanks to the Young Democrats of America, an organization she joined in college. And the Young Democrats supported her campaign, helping her win a seat on the Clarkstown Town Council.

“When I first ran, friends from the Young Democrats from states including Connecticut, Indiana and New Jersey came and knocked on doors for me,” she said.

This week, Hausner, 32, is one of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, representing New York’s 17th congressional district.

Young Democrats of America is the largest youth-led partisan organization in the country, with 46 chapters and hundreds of thousands of members. They are well represented at the convention, staffing a booth in a public space for all four days and signing up new members.

“Our mission is to elect Democrats, advocate for progressive issues and train the next generation of leaders,” said Kristina Contreras Fox, 30, a vice president of the Young Democrats. “And this is the year for it.”

Members nationwide are knocking on doors, making phone calls and discussing issues ranging from student loan debt to reproductive rights. This year, the organization is working hard on its Millennial Vote initiative, to encourage greater voter participation.

“When it comes to policies, we are the generation that is going to be impacted the most,” Fox said. A native of Rhode Island, Fox is president of the Rhode Island chapter of the Young Democrats. “I do everything I can to elevate the voice of young people,” she said.

“I make sure those people know where to go,” said Fox. She uses email, social media and even old-fashioned methods like phone calls to tell young people the issues being discussed by local officials. “I’m an old-form organizer,” she said.

Like many DNC attendees, Fox is elated to see a woman nominated for president. Tears pooled in her eyes when she discussed it.

Kristina Contreras Fox engages new members at the Young Democrats of America booth. — Kristina Contreras Fox engages new members at the
Young Democrats of America booth.

“When I was in kindergarten, we were having this discussion, ’What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I remember I said, ‘I want to be presIdent and they’ll call my husband the first man.’ The entire class laughed at me,” Fox said. “I’ve been thinking about that so much. We’re going to nominate Hillary Clinton. I feel like a 5-year-old in kindergarten again. Now there will be little girls in their kindergarten class saying they want to be president and people won’t laugh at them. … it makes me speechless.”

Hausner is equally as thrilled to see Clinton nominated.

“I was a Hillary supporter in 2008. I ran for office after seeing Hillary in 2008. To be able to be on the floor (this week) will be quite an experience,” said Hausner.

This is Hausner’s fourth convention and the second as a delegate.

“I started as a Young Democrat when I was in college,” Hausner said. She benefited from many of their trainings and advice. She first ran for office when she was 25, and leaned heavily on the Young Democrats.

“My campaign was run by all Young Democrats. Some of those people later ran for office themselves. Others served as campaign managers in larger scale races,” she said. “It shows that young people should have a seat at the table.”

The Young Democrats can use creative strategies to reach out. Hausner said that earlier this month, to register young voters, Young Democrats camped out at a local library which doubled as a Pokemon Go stop. When players walked by to play the game, a volunteer asked them to register to vote.

“Our campaign strategy is peer-to-peer campaigning,” explained Hausner, “young voters talking to young voters.”

Gender Equity Focus of Young New York Delegate

July 25, 2016 by Inside Press

By Susan Youngwood

Philadelphia, PA — Meet one of the youngest delegates to support Hillary Clinton.

Aleatha Williams, 25, may be young but she’s an old hand at politics. She first campaigned for Clinton as a high school student, in 2008. She canvassed in South Carolina and Ohio.

“When she announced last year, I said, ‘I’m on board,’” Williams said.

Williams cites gender equity as the issue that most motivates her. “She is a strong supporter of equal pay. That’s especially important in 2016. This shouldn’t be an issue in 2016, but it still is.” Williams also lauds Clinton for her efforts in racial, social and economic equity.

To become a delegate, Williams, who lives in the Bronx and works as an administrative assistant for New York Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, collected signatures in her neighborhood. “I campaigned for myself,” she said. Being at the convention, she said, is both “exciting and nerve wracking.”

After this week, she’ll start campaigning for Clinton.

“I’m seeing history in the making and making history,” she said.