Follow Media Mobilizing’s Bryan Mercer on this ‘social justice tour’ of Philly

Democratic National Convention visitors are seeing a polished Philadelphia this week, rife with painted donkeys and beer gardens and sparkling red, white and blue lights.

What they might not realize is that Philadelphia is a city where over 26 percent of the population lives in poverty and 13 percent are living in deep poverty. They might not realize the extent of homelessness in Philadelphia, a city where approximately 700 individuals are currently unsheltered.

What they won’t know by touring Center City and the stadiums — or even by drinking a cold brew atop Bok Technical School — is the city has a 65 percent high school graduation rate.

That’s the city Media Mobilizing Project organizer Bryan Mercer wants America to see. Mercer recently took Al Jazeera‘s mobile news channel AJ+ on a “social justice tour” of Philadelphia, stopping at Bok, Philadelphia Energy Solutions and Old City to highlight the economic disparity that seems gilded over during the convention.

“With the convention coming to town, I think there’s this real question,” Mercer tells the news channel. “What are the Democrats going to do to fix this for working class  communities across Philadelphia and across the country?”

Take a tour of the Philadelphia that mainstream media won't show you during the #DemConvention. https://t.co/0Ohdw6OKca

— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 26, 2016