PHILADELPHIA – It was after midnight on Sunday in Flint, Michigan, but Mia Tyler was too excited to eat or sleep. The 17 year-old high school student was heading to Philadelphia in a few hours to “support the change” and “the man that will make the change.”
“I’m not even old enough to vote, but it still… when I’m a legal age, when I’m an adult, this is my president, this is the one who’s gonna be making decisions in my life.” said Tyler.
She and hundreds of other Bernie Sanders supporters trekked to in Philadelphia to protest Sunday afternoon at the March4Bernie Against the DNC rally, one day before the start of the Democratic National Convention.
“I support Bernie and his platform, even if he doesn’t become the candidate,” said Ashley Hall, who came to Philadelphia to “protest the DNC” and ” their unfavorable practices with Bernie.”
The rally came a day before the start of the Democratic National Convention, and a few days afterWikileaks released thousands of emails that appear to show the DNC leaders hvae been suppressing Sanders’ campaign and favoring Hillary Clinton.
Supporters of Sanders’ marched from Thomas Paine Plaza and along Broad Street to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in Philadelphia. The rally’s Facebook page showed that 13,000 people expressed interest and 6,541 individuals participated.
“I still have hope in Bernie, I still have hope that he will contest this convention and get the spot,” said Hall, who said she is fighting for her two children who are tested positive for lead toxicity during the Flint water crisis.
“We are poisoned by policy. I believe that Bernie will change that kind of thing and prevent that from happening in the first place cuz he’s honest,” said Hall.
The DNC leaked emails irritated many supporters of Bernie Sanders, who question the practices of the Democratic Party and the country’s democracy.
“I’m fighting for democracy which has been lost through both parties, and I’m fighting for change,” said Dana Greenwood, who had blisters on her feet after the rally. “Clinton will probably be nominated because the establishment is corrupt and that’s why I’m here. We are hoping that it will get flipped. Chances are that it probably won’t but that doesn’t mean that we will stop fighting.”
“That’s unfortunate because for a long time we who are considered liberals follow the Democratic Party thinking they are more aggressive and that they were for civil rights and they were for economic progress,” said Roger Quesada, a 32-year-old gay man who works in e-commerce marketing in New York. “And we are finding out that now more for continuing decline of the American middle class.”
While the demonstration was going on, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced her resignation as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Protesters cheered when they heard the news.
“I believe that the DNC needs to resign and to reconstruct everything that it is,” said Hall. “It’s not the democratic party any more. ”
OPmavic McMurray, a 57-year-old child care provider from Wisconsin, said Democrats “still have time to make it right and to choose the candidate who will win. If they choose Bernie, the Democrats will win this election. “The Democratic Party should be shamed and be very careful with what they choose to do next.”
McMurray said she will not vote for Clinton even though Sanders endorsed her.
“I’m trying to get the Democratic Party to realize that when you cheat your way through the election, and you have a loser, you are giving the election to the other candidate,” she said..”
Another demonstrator from New Jersey, Lisa Alonge, also said she won’t vote for Clinton. “I can’t vote for somebody that I don’t trust, who is accepting incredible amount of money from corporations…who actually lifts herself up by keeping others down.”
For other Bernie supporters, Clinton may get their vote, albeit grudgingly.
“It’s a hard choice for me because of the Supreme Court justices,” said Hall. “If (Donald Trump gets into the office, he puts people in those positions. That’s gonna affect generations and generations.”