U.S Vice President, Kamala Harris is slated to deliver the keynote address tonight, Thursday, August 22, 2024, as she formally accepts her party’s presidential nomination.
Harris’ remarks will close out the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), in which she will become the first woman of color to accept a major party’s presidential nomination.
Thursday night’s theme is “For Our Future.”
Harris will lay out her vision for the country and prosecute her case against Republican Donald Trump.
According to a campaign official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Harris has three objectives for her speech.
“She will share her background rising from a middle-class family to protect others as a prosecutor, contrast her “optimistic” vision with Trump’s “dark” agenda and evoke a sense of patriotism,” the official said.
The fourth and final night of the convention in Chicago will feature another long list of Speakers: Secretaries, Senators, Governors, Congressmen and Activists, in the buildup to Kamala Harris’ formal acceptance speech.
Notable speakers include Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s Governor and Mark Kelly, the Arizona Senator; Democrats running in swing races, such as Bob Casey, the Pennsylvania Senator, Tammy Baldwin, the Wisconsin Senator, and Ruben Gallego, the Arizona Congressman who is running for an open senate seat.
Attendees will also hear from gun control advocates, including Georgia Congresswoman Lucy McBath, whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed in a “stand your ground” killing, as well as members of the Tennessee Three who were expelled from the state legislature after demanding action on gun control.
Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona Congresswoman who survived an assassination attempt, will also speak, along with other survivors and the families of victims of gun violence.
Chicago Police Ready For DNC’s Final Night
Chicago police announced on Thursday that they are not changing any of their tactics and are ready for a final night of pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention, after a peaceful march that resulted in no injuries or arrests.
On Wednesday, August 21, 2024, night, more than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched peacefully past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had gathered earlier.
That demonstration came a day after violent clashes between police and protesters led to 56 arrests at a much smaller, unsanctioned protest outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown Chicago.
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said that the protest on Wednesday night ended without arrests and that no one was injured.
Snelling praised the organizers of the Wednesday protest, saying it is an example of how people can hold First Amendment-protected demonstrations peacefully by collaborating in advance with law enforcement.
Meanwhile, an impromptu sit-in that began Wednesday night at the United Center continued.
The uncommitted movement started the sit-in after the Democratic convention denied its request for a Palestinian American to speak on the main stage.
Layla Elabed, a leader of the uncommitted national movement, said that having a speaker on the main stage was the “bare minimum,” and far below the policy change uncommitted and anti-war voters want to see from Harris on Gaza.
Elabed stated, “This has been an embarrassment for those of us who had faith in the Democratic party that we still had voices here.”
The movement has suggested a potential list of Palestinian American speakers, including elected officials, and their remarks would be pre-approved and vetted by the convention.
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