On the first day of the Democratic National Convention, Bernie Sanders supporters wept.
They wept in the Wells Fargo Center, as the man they had chosen endorsed a candidate they mistrusted.
They wept in the streets, as they protested flaws in the system and struggled to be heard.
They wept in bars and hotel rooms across Philadelphia, as people on their television screens called for unity, which seemed out of reach.
While the Monday convention speakers — Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, first lady Michelle Obama and Sanders himself — rallied around Hillary Clinton, protesters, some from the Pioneer Valley, tangled with warring emotions.
Many were proud to see the party adopting a more progressive platform — a shift they felt they had helped inspire. But many also felt mocked by those who urged them to move past Sanders and embrace Clinton.
“Here we are at the (convention) and now they’re mocking us,” said Marc Osten of Amherst. “It crystallized for Bernie delegates and the people outside that we’re going to have to escalate this fight. This is systemic change that’s needed.”
Osten, like thousands of others, sought this systemic change through nonviolent protests outside the convention. After training courses in de-escalation and peaceful arrest, Osten spent Monday sweating in a crowd of protesters, chanting at arriving delegates.
“This is what democracy looks like! This is what democracy sounds like!”
“One person, one vote!”
Police erected miles of barricades, some as tall as 8 feet, to contain the protesters, Osten said. When people began to clamber over the barricades and were detained by officers, others clapped and thanked them for their sacrifices as they were led away.
As they passed protesters on their way into the convention center, some delegates stopped to take selfies in front of the barricades.
“In some ways, it felt like we were animals in cages at a zoo,” Osten said.
Despite the oppressive heat, Osten said the atmosphere was one of community and energy, with people determined to voice their fears and frustrations. Osten’s group stayed the whole day, until thunderheads and crackling lightning forced them to disperse in the evening.
Watching the speeches, Osten said he and his comrades were disgusted. Rather than messages of inspiration and unity, they heard arrogant digs at Sanders supporters.
However, Osten also swelled with pride as he saw pieces of Sanders’ platform woven into speeches on the stage by other politicians. Sanders and his supporters, Osten said, had pushed the party in a progressive direction it would not have gone otherwise.
“The fact that ‘The system is rigged’ could come out on the main stage during prime time is pretty massive,” Osten said. “That’s the kind of thing you’d hear protesters yelling outside, but not usually inside because you’re in the middle of the system.”
Paki Weiland, of Northampton, said she sees signs of change as well as a lack of progress in the protests.
Weiland, 72, is part of CodePink, a women’s peace and human rights organization, and attended protests outside the convention Monday. Weiland said the themes of this year’s protests mirror those of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, although without the violence that made 1968 notorious.
“In 1968 in Washington and Chicago it was about exposing what was happening under the Democratic Party and it was quite a contentious time. I think that’s what’s happening now,” Weiland said.
In 1968, Weiland was working in West Virginia with a grassroots democratic organization, helping people in rural coal mining communities fight for better opportunities, services and a higher standard of living. These values are the same things Sanders and his supporters are asking for, Weiland said.
Although Clinton has adopted much of Sanders’ platform, Weiland said she won’t be able to implement all of it because there is not enough money. Protests will continue, however, to hold Clinton accountable to the promises she’s made.
“No matter who is elected in November people will still be protesting in January,” Weiland said. “But if Hillary is elected we can push her further, and she’ll have Democratic coattails to ride and then hopefully there can be more progressive Democrats elected.”
With her friends — three who are chronically ill and one who is pregnant — Jamie Guerin, of Northampton, scraped together money and traveled to the DNC to protest for truth, justice and democracy.
Marching alongside fellow Sanders supporters, Guerin was amazed by the respect and compassion shown both by protesters and police.
“It surprised me how many diverse, beautiful people scraped their money together to be there, though of course we’re all struggling,” Guerin said. “The police were awesome and there was a feeling of mutual respect from demonstrators.”
For Guerin, protesting is about fighting to preserve the values that should bind the country — values she feels are being lost in the corruption within the Democratic Party.
“What is America without the democratic process? What are we going to leave our kids?” Guerin said. “I have five children who are going to inherit this, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we have an honest-to-God working democracy.”
While party leaders make pleas for unity, Guerin said there will be no such thing under Hillary Clinton.
“We will not unite. We won’t vote for Hillary. We don’t trust her,” Guerin said. “If they want unity, they have to nominate the leader people will trust.”