Four Days At The DNC

The 2024 Democratic National Convention made a mark on Chicago long before any politicians came to town. Streets closed down. Fences went up. Vice President Harris took a lead in the polls and President Biden supported her. It was fixing to be a Windy City honeymoon.  

I visited the four-day event with filmmaker Brian Schodorf, photographer Ed Kearns and producer Christina Wollerman. Our goal was to capture the energy at the ground level. We succeeded by asking everyone’s opinion and not challenging any of the responses. A zero-resistance marketing survey, if you will. 

The DNC took place in two separate facilities near downtown Chicago. One was McCormick Place, the gigantic convention complex next to Lake Michigan on the south side. The other was the United Center on the west side, home to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls, which was surrounded by an expansive “security perimeter” that resembled a military occupation.

SCREENMAG AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GmC9McmwcM

Screen at the DNC: compiling official messages and personal opinions to figure out what everyone’s thinking. (Direction, camera, editing: Brian Schodorf; music: Daniel Patton.

THE UNINVITED
On the first day, thousands of protesters gathered a few blocks east of the perimeter to rally against US weapons being used to kill Palestinians. “Not in our name,” was a chant among the crowd, and “Abandon Harris ‘24” was a message on signs. 

Dr. Cornel West arrived and explained that the United States could become a better country by halting arms sales to Israel. “We’ve got to have enough empathy to look at the world through the lens of those who are suffering,” he said. “Do you want your country to be a denier of genocide and an enabler of genocide?” 

Two days later, the DNC welcomed Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of 23-year-old American citizen Jon Goldberg-Polin, who was being held hostage by Hamas. The Goldberg-Polins received a standing ovation from the crowd. Ten days later, Hamas executed their son and five other hostages, three of whom were in their twenties.

The protesters marched toward the United Center and knocked over a door-sized piece of wire mesh fencing. At that point, the only thing separating them from the DNC were thousands of Chicago police, hundreds of armed federal agents and a mile of concrete barricades. In other words, the uninvited were not getting anywhere near the building. 

The invited also faced a challenge. They stood in line for blocks at pedestrian access points on the east and south sides of the perimeter. To the west, they sat in busses at vehicle inspection areas while bomb-sniffing dogs did their thing. Many of the passengers were coming from hotels near McCormick Place, where an event called “DemPalooza” spanned all four days of the convention. 

DEMPALOOZA
Described as “a series of trainings, panels, briefings, and activations to help Democrats win,” DemPalooza featured “leaders from across the country.” It came off with support from political consultant Robert Creamer, who organized classes in campaign skills “for the people who are interested in doing them.” 

Creamer wields formidable expertise. Besides cofounding Democracy Partners, a consulting firm specializing in “progressive candidates and causes,” he helped create the Iran Nuclear Agreement and the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) while “visiting the Obama White House 342 times,” according to Influence Watch. The husband of Democratic Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, he got his start working with Saul Alinsky in the early 1970’s.

“Trump presents an existential threat to the United States and the world,” he told us. “The country is on a knife edge between what could be a drift towards fascism on the one hand and the most progressive period in modern American history on the other. If we turn out and if we get a trifecta — if we win the House, Senate and the Presidency — we will have the most progressive period in modern American history in 2025 — next year!”

As he spoke, attendees hustled to classes like Using Artificial Intelligence Programs in Progressive Politics on the second floor of the Hyatt Regency. Others gathered in a large wing of McCormick Place two buildings away, where music, speeches and exhibits formed the bulk of DemPalooza. Vendors sold goods and services ranging from jewelry and theatre tickets to crystals, cruises and chocolate barbecue sauce.

THE BRIGHT BLUE DOT
Joellyn Beckham was among them. An Alabama native, she is the founder of Brite Blue Dot, an organization that creates stickers with a round blue dot to inconspicuously signify support for the democratic party in deep red states. “This is going to sound like drama queen stuff, but democracy is on the line,” she said. “America is a democracy, and thank God for it.”

Nearby, a trio of smart, cool and friendly young attendees discussed the election. 

Ethan Clay, a cellist, listed climate change and Project 2025 among his greatest concerns. He said that VP Harris should encourage people to “have conversations, especially with somebody that you may not agree with, because you might learn something new.” For Sydney Clay, an accounting student, it was all about reproductive rights and educational equality. “My body, my choice,” she added. Jerrit Payton II, a poet, human rights activist and creator/host of Perspektives: The Podcast, emphasized voting integrity and immigration reform. “Immigration is not a black and white thing,” he said. “It’s not something that only impacts people from the southern border.”

Their enthusiasm was reinforced by Ethan’s grandmother, Shaya Gardner-Hayum, a Chicagoan who worked with the the Cook County Sheriff and the Chicago Tribune before retiring. “I never thought that I would live to see what I am seeing,” she said. “Kamala Harris is great because she has a diverse background, and I think that this is a diverse country, and she typifies what America is.”

At the McCormick Place Marriott next door, guests mingled in campaign-themed lobbies and pop-up shops while waiting for transport to the United Center, which started every day at 4 p.m. Pedicab drivers in front of the hotel offered the ride for $100. Parked alongside green lawns and lush foliage, they helped create a campus kind of vibe. 

Enthusiasm grew among the shuttle passengers on the way to the venue. When we got there, few noticed the sniper on the roof. After passing through a security tent full of secret service agents and metal detectors, everyone swarmed the entrance on traffic-free Madison Ave. 

THE VENUE
The sound of voices and footsteps filled the United Center’s cathedral of a lobby. Supporters, politicians and pundits buzzed through the circular hall with powerful joy. Everyone seemed to agree that Kamala Harris would be our next President. 

“I think her agenda’s really inclusive,” said Craig Carlson. “She’s looking to be an advocate for the people — all the people — and I think that’s truly what the Democratic Party is.” Carlson is Vice President of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the union that built much of the set for the DNC. His top election priorities include “working class issues” like “folks being able to go to work, being treated with good wages, being treated with fair conditions and benefits.” 

Dr. Michelle Walker Davis, the CEO of Imperial Management Group and former volunteer for the Obama campaign, came to help her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister Kamala Harris become the nation’s first female president. “Not only is the country ready, but she’s ready,” said Walker. “Because as a woman, and especially a Black woman, we work five times harder than anybody else. We make less money. We get less recognition.” 

Keisha Howard, a video game developer from Chicago, was there to “see what everyone has to say.” Remarking that the country “needs a lot of help,” she said that adequate housing would make a good start. “There’s so many people with so much potential,” she continued, “and if they just have food, shelter and support, you know, just basic human needs before we get to anywhere else … It’s America, the most abundant country there is.”

VOTING MATTERS
Onstage, the speakers fueled their enthusiasm. Melanie Campbell, President/CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, helped launch the DNC by declaring that “Vice President Kamala Harris’ path to becoming the Democratic nominee for President of the United States has been paved by the leadership, sacrifice, faith and patriotism of generations of Black women.”

Afterwards, she told Screen about her priorities. “For Black women, one of the number one issues is economic,” she said. “How we can make that paycheck last for 31 days?” When asked how VP Harris’ success will improve the United States, she added, “everyone has to think about that for themselves, but I’ll tell you this much: I’ve lived a few decades around the sun to know it does matter and that if you don’t vote, somebody else will make sure to take that vote and they get something for that vote … We get to hire and fire politicians. They work for us.”

Minutes after Campbell’s opening remarks, Vice President Harris made a surprise appearance. “I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible President, Joe Biden,” she said. “We are forever grateful to you.” She spoke for less than three minutes and walked off stage as the audience erupted with, “when we fight, we win!” When President Biden spoke a few hours later, they shouted, “Thank you, Joe!” 

TALKING THE TALK
A wing called “Media Row” contained several talk-show sets with recording booths and sleek furniture on the first floor of the United Center. Attendees mingled with organizers, pundits and politicians. Among them was Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who explained how Vice President Harris can win the election. 

“She’s got to have a message of unity, of getting rid of the divisiveness that was created by Trump and beginning to talk about how we can have diversity and inclusion and everybody deserves a good quality of life,” said the Congresswoman. “And when she talks about, you know, the inflation and making sure that the gouging never takes place again, that you can put food on the table at a reasonable price, you can buy gas, she’s talking the kind of talk that people want to hear and they want to feel. They want to feel good about the fact, they are living and that America promises them a better life, a good life.”

Senior White House Correspondent Jake Turx, who has more than a decade of experience writing for the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish publication, Ami Magazine, obliged us with a few words about the Israeli Palestinian “stalemate.” In his opinion, it can only be ended if “very courageous, strong individuals on both sides” stand up to Hamas as well as certain “members within the Israeli government.” He added, “I’m not aware of their existence.” His advice for Vice President Harris on the matter: “She doesn’t know. How would I know?”

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES
On stage, the likes of Oprah Winfrey, President Barack Obama and Eva Longoria energized the DNC crowd at the United Center. When Vice President Harris took her turn at the end of the convention, ScreenMag was sitting in a food truck semi-circle that formed a de facto break room behind the United Center. Several other media teams were also there because the venue had abruptly decided to prohibit re-entry. 

Some speculated that the Chicago Fire Marshall ordered the closure. That rumor was not as strong as the one about the health department shutting down one of the food trucks, mostly because there was a Department of Public Health “License Suspended” notice posted on a food truck that had been shuttered. 

None of these issues prevented Vice President Harris from delivering a powerful speech. She recalled lessons she had learned from her mother while speaking about optimism, fairness, compassion and endless possibilities. “America, let us show each other and the world who we are,” she said. She described a fight that can be won with unity and sacrifice. “We must be worthy of this moment; it is now our turn.” Finally, she described “the greatest privilege on earth: the privilege and pride of being an American.” 

After sitting, standing, clapping and cheering through five hours of speeches for four consecutive nights, the people responded with gusto. There was plenty of road ahead, but the Democrats were on solid footing.

Protesters demonstrated as attendees left the convention. They blocked a few cars on nearby streets while police observed and taxi drivers charged higher-than-normal rates.