Americans affected by andd19, the economy, Racial Discrimination address the 2020 Democratic National convention. This 40 minute portion includes remarks by Small Business owners, Domestic Violence survivors, climate activists, and gun violence prevention advocates. Many of you know, Small Businesses employ half of all u. S. Workers. Tonight, we have scott. Scott, you are a Small Business owner from pennsylvania. Small businesses have been hit so hard in this crisis. So many Small Businesses. How are you doing . How are you managing . Well, its been rough. Rough is the nice word to say it. My wife and i, 31 years ago, began our business, and quite honestly, over all of these years, we had faced some adversity and challenges, but to be honest, nothing like we are today. We have literally had to reinvent our business several times since the beginning of the year. Just to stay afloat. And we our revenue, for example, is off about 40 . We have half of the employees that we had precovid. And our customers are little scared, our employees are sometimes afraid to come to work because of the covid. And to be honest with you, i am just frustrated. I do not understand how we got here. We are the greatest nation in the world. And it just seems to me that, maybe, if we just came together on this one issue alone, maybe as americans, and being united, we can overcome it. Yeah. Thank you for sharing your story. I am sure many Small Business owners feel the same way that you are feeling now. We wish you the best for your business and of course for your family. Now i would like to turn to marley diaz, who is 15 years old from west orange, new jersey. She is a literary activist and author and the founder of 1000 black girl books. So many young people are struggling with the changes due to covid. How are you doing . I am doing all right. I feel better every day, i feel more hopeful. I thought this would be a few weeks at first when i would not see my friends and i would just stick it out, but obviously as a as it grows longer, i want to focus on activism and still spreading in important messages. It has been so fun getting to interact and meet new kids and promote the joy to be confined in reading and learning. It is also super fun to see teenagers like me going on social media and talking about social issues and injustices that they care about, because sometimes, you do not have that space in school. So i hope that one year from now, we get to go back and be safe and greet protected and we will still have these conversations and still have a new possibility in a new world. Yes, thank you so much. You are such an inspiration. I do not think i was doing half of what you are doing at 15, and i love seeing how brave and creative your generation is to creating change. So, thank you so much for your work. Lets check in with rick. Rick, you are a farmer from pennsylvania. Your farm has been in your family for generations. What have the trade wars and the pandemic done to your familys life work . First of all, i would like to offer the trump family our condolences for his loss. Getting back to the business side of it, the trade war was really stressful and a truly devastating effect on the farm. What people can relate to mostly is the soybean tariffs. And then, compound the effects of the covid19 virus, nobody could have prevented that. It is a shame our leadership misinformed people like myself in the country on what was coming down the road. My biggest concern is, if these trends continue with this type of leadership, i will be the last generation of farmers. It is a scary thought. And i am sure a lot of farmers feel the same way. You know, i do not have the answers, but in past experiences, if something does not work for you, it is time for a change. And that is why i am supporting joe biden all the way. Thank you so much. Rick, i could not agree with you more. We need meaningful change and leadership that will support family farms like yours, so we wish you the best. Thank you for sharing your story. Finally, lets hear from michelle, from my home state of texas. Michelle, you are a school nurse and mother in el paso. How are you preparing for the new school year . Hi, eva. Well, weve already started school, but it is a little challenging, because every day, something seems to change. We start one day one way and we have to change it the next day. I know right now, it is kind of sad to not see the kiddos, but i know that will change. We will have to adapt and persevere. But honestly, right now, all i can think about is keeping my kiddos safe. I know back in march, we had them home and they were doing ok but now, they are wanting to take them back to school and it is a little scary with the uprise in covid cases. So i just want to say that i am committed to taking care of my family, my students, and all my staff in my school. I will do whatever it takes to ensure we are already to go back to school safe and healthy. And i know that i am optimistic to move forward with our life. And joe biden will be the one to take us there. I just want to say, for everyone to please remember to wash your hands and wear your masks, because we are all in this together. Thank you, michelle. I think there is nothing more difficult for us as moms than to see our children suffer. I think you are a great job of guiding them through this difficult time. And thank you for your work as a nurse. It is truly heroic. I really enjoyed talking to all of you. I think i have one last question. Do you believe that change is coming . Do you believe that better days are ahead . Yes. Yeah. [laughter] thank you for taking the time to speak with us and sharing your thoughts. My brother, george, was selfless. He always made sacrifices for his family, friends, and even complete strangers. George had a giving spirit, a spirit that had shown up around streets around our nation and around the world. People of all races, all ages, all genders, all backgrounds, peacefully protesting in the name of love and unity. Its a fitting legacy for our brother, but george should be alive today. Breonna taylor should be a lot today. Alive today. Armand arbery should be alive today. Eric garner should be alive today. Stephan clark, tatiana jefferson, sandra bland, they should all be alive today. So it is up to us to carry on the fight for justice. Our actions will be there legacies. Theirre legacies legacies. We will always find ourselves in what john lewis called good trouble. For the names and faces we will never see, those who cant mourn because their murders did not go viral, please join me in a moment of silence to honor george and the many other souls we lost to hate and injustice. And when this moment ends, lets make sure we never stop saying their names. Hi. Many have lost a loved one to covid. My dad, mark anthony, should be here today. But he is not. He had faith in donald trump. He voted for him, listened to him, believed him and has and his mouthpieces when they said that coronavirus was under control and going to disappear. That it was ok to end social distancing rules before it was safe, and that if you had no Underlying Health conditions, you would probably be fine. So in late may, after the stayathome order was lifted in arizona, my dad went to a karaoke bar with his friends. A few weeks later, he was put on a ventilator. And after five agonizing days, he died alone in the icu, with a nurse holding his hand. My dad was a healthy 65yearold. His only preexisting condition was trusting donald trump. And for that, he paid with his life. I am not alone. Once i told my story, a lot of people reached out to me share theirs. To me to share theirs. They asked me to help them keep their community safe, especially communities of color, which have been disproportionately affected. They asked me, a normal person, to help, because donald trump wont. The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two americas. The america that donald trump lives in, and the america that my father died in. Enough is enough. Donald trump may not have caused the coronavirus, but his dishonesty and his irresponsible actions made it so much worse. We need a leader who has a national, coordinated, datadriven response to stop this pandemic from claiming more lives, and to safely reopen the country. We need a leader who will step in on day one and do his job, to care. One of the last things that my father said to me was that he felt betrayed by the likes of donald trump. And so, when i cast my vote for joe biden, i will do it for my dad. Hi, everybody. Megan repeat no megan rapinoe. I have the distant honor today to host a conversation with four of our frontline workers here in america. We should rename them heroes, absolutely. Can you tell us a little bit about how you are doing during this time . Early on, when the government was still trying to figure out proper protocols to protect workers, i had unfortunately contacted covid through making contact and was isolated myself for two weeks. And isolated myself for two weeks. Full isolation, no contact. Once i recovered, luckily, i went back to the front lines to continue to care for the sick. What got me originally was watching people die alone. There were no visitors allowed. Everyone was totally isolated. And i knew had that felt because how that felt, because for two weeks, that was me. Not knowing if you are going to wake up, not knowing if you were going to make it who you could or who you could talk to come if you could say goodbye. Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, all dying alone. We know there is a round two coming. And i do not know how many of us on the front lines are going to survive that second round. Effects areey, what you seeing inside your hospital doors of the inaction of the Trump Administration when it comes to this Covid Response . It is heavy. It has left the Emergency Department and tears and so have a lot of my colleagues. People are exhausted and we are looking at what is coming with covid and influenza, and we are wondering how our system is not just going to collapse. When people come in with broken arms, or come with heart attacks and strokes and appendicitis, we are not going to be there. What were you seeing on the front lines in those very early days that you knew it would not magically disappear . Did you think it was a hoax . Absolutely, we knew this was not a hoax. We were certain of it. Was because of the experience with the 2009 swine flu pandemic. We knew what a pandemic would look like. We knew we needed to have the tools and the research and the plans in place. But then we had the ineptitude and the lack of leadership from the administration. I have seen the worst of the worst. Not only have i answered thousands of calls of people that are sick, but people that are dying. Michelle, talk to us a little bit about how it has been for you on the front lines, what your specific role is as a union nurse. I have been on the frontline of advocating that our Health Care Workers and patients get the support and the ppe that they need. You know, 10 years ago, i responded to the disaster in haiti. We were working in a tent hospital after the earthquake. But, you know, the first time that i ever feared for my life, and my familys, walking into work, was in my own country. We have the money, we have the means, we have the resources in this country. We are deeply lacking leadership and somebody who cares. Trump has made it perfectly clear how he feels. And we need a president who cares. That is joe biden. I cant thank you all enough. The American People are forever indebted to you for your work and your sacrifice, and just you showing up every single day and giving everything you have. Thank you again for everything you do on the front lines. There is no way we can ever repay you. So, thank you very much. I take powerful people on my elevator all the time. When they get off, they go to their important meetings. Me . I had back to the lobby. But in the short time i spent with joe biden, i could tell he really saw me. That he actually cared, that my life meant something to him. And i knew even when he went to his important meeting, he would take my story in there with him. That is because joe biden has room in his heart for more than just himself. We have been through a lot, and we have tough days ahead, but nominating someone like that to be in the white house is a good place to start. That is why i nominate my friend, joe biden, as the next president of the united states. How are you, you handsome boy . With a heartn condition. He ended up requiring a transplant. Now, it is something that we think about all the time, especially with the potential coverage. And his initial hospital stays, over 3 million that was built back to the insurance. I remember thinking, as au laid dying in bed, thinking to myself, what would i do if the doctor walked in and said, im sorry. You have outrun your insurance. You have reached your cap. Suffer the last few months of your life on your own. I came from a part of the wherey of Rural Missouri basically everyone was a republican and i was a republican. And i lost my voice. We put off going to the doctor because we did not have health insurance. We finally got some, they take a look at my throat, and they said, you have cancer. Stage four. The worst kind of cancer you can have. My wife applied for Affordable Care act and my coverage began april 1 2012. Began april 1, 2012. And that same day, they started my chemotherapy and radiation, and it saved my life. I am here today. Generally speaking, you are concerned about people spiritually, but also other areas of their life. That includes their physical and physiological wellbeing, because there are people in our country and in my church who cannot take advantage of it because they do not have health care. That is discouraging to me. That is pretty discouraging to them. Because of the fact that it is a very rare disease, a lot of our medication, we have to fight for. The aca, we worried about the preexisting conditions for children. We worried about age because having the cost of medication, we would have reached that milliondollar cap end time. But once the aca passed, we no longer had not cap. The fear that you all live in understandably, if somehow tomorrow, if they said, no insurance, you are not covered. It is just devastating. Hey, laura, how are you doing . God love you, but doing it all, trump was trying to rip away your coverage. The day you got your first chemo, republicans voted to cut the aca. I cant imagine what it must have been like going to sleep at night wondering what you are going to do. Diagnosed,ce i was every night, i go to bed concerned about news i would get in the morning. Even today, they are still trying to take away our health care. Even during a pandemic. We will make sure that we do not lose that aca. We will provide a medicare like option. And any state where there is, if you qualify for medicaid and the state has not provided it, we will you will automatically be enrolled. Iwill protect you like protect my own family. I promise you that. By the time you are watching this, you will have grown up to be strong and courageous. But i dont know how much longer i will be around for you. Als, a deadly, debilitating disease. After i was diagnosed, the president passed a tax bill that put my health care risk. Health care at risk. So i went to washington, d. C. My next guest made headlines when he confronted a republican senator on an airplane. I wanted to help create a better country for you to live in. America is beautiful america is beautiful all that matters to me is to make you proud, because i am already so proud of you. Hello, america. I am speaking to you through this computer voice, because i have been paralyzed by a Mysterious Illness called als. Like so many of you, i have experienced the ways our Health Care System is fundamentally broken. Enormous costs, denied claims. Dehumanizing treatment when we are most in need. Since my shocking diagnosis, i have traveled the country meeting countless patients like me, demanding more of our representatives and our democracy. Today, we are witnessing the tragic consequences of our failing Health Care System. In the midst of a pandemic, nearly 100 million americans do not have sufficient health insurance, and even good insurance does not cover essential needs like longterm care. Our loved ones are dying in unsafe nursing homes. Our nurses are overwhelmed and unprotected, and our essential workers are treated as dispensable. We live in the richest country in history, and yet, we do not guarantee this most basic human right. Everyone living in america should get the health care they need, regardless of their Employment Status or ability to pay. Even during this terrible crisis, donald trump the and the republican politicians are trying to take away millions of Peoples Health insurance. With the existential threat of another four years of this president , we have the profound obligation to act, not only to vote, but to make sure our friends, family, and neighbors vote, as well. We must elect joe biden. Each of us must be a hero for our communities, for our country, and then with the compassionate and intelligent president , we must act together and put on his desk a bill that guarantees us all the health care we deserve. Text vote to 30330 to learn how to vote safely, because our lives depend on it. Activist, mother and deandre dykis. In a split second, a stray bullet shattered by sons life. My son deandre was only 13yearold. He was recognized as a gifted and talented student. The possibilities were endless. He was dancing at a birthday party, when he was shot in the back left side of his head, shattering his skull. One shot changed our lives forever. Today, my son does not talk. He does not walk. I know he knows me by the smile he shows when i walk in his room. But i am unsure if he knows a gunshot has changed his life. Since march, i have only been able to see my son three times, but i cannot touch or hug him due to covid19. People tell me that i am lucky. I tell them we are blessed. I remind them that my son is in a wheelchair and unable to feed himself. I do not think deandre feels liftedhen he has to be from head to toe or get muscle injections. I am in a state of gratitude. I can touch deandre. I can hold his hand. But the child i birthed is not able to live his dream, and that hurts. Every day, we are reminded he may never be the same. We are not alone. In every town across america, there are families who know what a bullet can do. That is why i am a mom who volunteers to stop this. Trump, h