Dicky Wurfel grew up in Newark, New Jersey and moved to Maine at the age of 24. Six years ago he retired from a career in firefighting. He is also a lifelong activist who, at 13 years old was in Washington DC lobbying the New Jersey congressional delegation to pass the Civil Rights Act.
After urging his daughter to help him on to Facebook, he discovered Billy Taylor, who Dicky says reminded him of himself 35 ago. So he came to Philadelphia to help Billy, which is where I met him. Billy, Dicky, and I all worked together on Philly.FYI, along with a handful of others, full-time for two months, assisting in scheduling some of the major marches and protests surrounding the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Billy had the insight, five months previous to the convention, to obtain almost all of the major demonstration permits for the week. We had a in-person meeting with two high-level staff members from the Bernie Sanders campaign to negotiate for one of those permits. They did not decide to take it.
Dicky and I talk about the difficulties experienced by supporters and delegates of Bernie Sanders, who were across the street from each other, with many physical security barriers between us, in communicating with one another. Supporters at FDR Park were trying to encourage and cheer the delegates, and the delegates were trying to hear and acknowledge it. It was a struggle. Dicky made it clear to the stage crew and all performers and speakers, that any delegates appearing were to be given immediate access to the stage.
On Wednesday, he made a concerted effort to communicate with a number of the state delegations, that they were welcome to come to the stage and talk with their supporters. I was one of the people he called, and I happened to be walking with four other delegates at the time, having just finished a late lunch, and on our way to the DNC proper at the Wells Fargo Center. We all decided to go to the park, and for many Bernie Sanders delegates and supporters, it ended up being the most important moment of the week.
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Dicky, as promised, here is the link to my livestream and the Sane Progressive’s livestream of when we were on stage. The video to our exclusive coverage of the gate breach is in this article, listed under the section titled “Sam Jr.”
Citizens' Media TV 