Campaign

Democrats’ first night to focus on racial justice, COVID-19

by Rebecca Klar - 08/17/20 12:23 PM ET

MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images
Protesters march during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white policeman kneeled on his neck for several minutes in Houston, Texas on May 29, 2020. – Demonstrations are being held across the US after George Floyd died in police custody on May 25.

Democrats will focus on racial justice and the coronavirus pandemic Monday during the first night of convention programming for the four-day virtual event.

The evening’s events will consist of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden taking part in a conversation on racial justice, convention organizers said Monday.

Among the discussion’s participants are social justice activist Jamira Burley, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, NAACP President Derrick Johnson and author Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in New York City police custody in 2014.

House Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) will also deliver remarks. Clyburn will give his speech from a rooftop in South Carolina across from Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, the site of a 2015 shooting, when a white supremacist killed nine people.

“I’m going to be talking about unity, where we are today, where we’ve come from and a little bit about where we need to go,” Clyburn said in an interview Sunday on “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren.”

Racial justice and the message of the Black Lives Matter movement will be part of the convention for all four days, according to Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.

“The Black Lives Matter movement has given voice to the deep-seated inequality that has plagued our nation since its inception,” Perez said in a statement to The Hill last week. “The Democratic Party shares in their commitment to justice and hears their demands for change. When we nominate Joe Biden to be our standard-bearer, we will not miss this moment to ensure those values are reflected in everything we do.”

Monday night’s programming will also focus on the coronavirus pandemic.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), two vocal critics of President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, are scheduled to deliver remarks during the prime-time event.

Programming will also feature a “conversation with healthcare workers on the frontlines,” convention organizers said.

Kristin Urquiza, who lost her father to COVID-19, will be among Monday night’s speakers. Urquiza last month wrote an obituary for her father, Mark Anthony Urquiza, in which she blamed his death on the state and federal response to the pandemic.

Other speakers on Monday include former first lady Michelle Obama and former presidential candidates Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). A group of Republicans, including former New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman, former Rep. Susan Molinari (N.Y.) and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, are also scheduled to speak.

Biden is slated to formally accept his party’s nomination on Thursday night.