President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign gained momentum on Monday, Sept. 3 in Charlotte, N.C. during the Democratic National Convention.

Democrats gathered at Time Warner Cable Arena for the DNC’s first day of speeches; with speakers including first lady Mi- chelle Obama and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who became the first Latino keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention. Both speakers focused on how their lower and middle-class upbringings connect them to Americans.“My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other peo- ple’s houses so she could afford to rent her own,” Castro said. “But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so thatinstead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.”

Similar to Castro, Michelle Obama spoke of the struggles her and her husband’s families went through in order to achieve the American dream.

“Barack knows the Americandream because he’s lived it,” she said. “And he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we’re from, or what we look like, or who we love.”

The first lady focused on the middle class throughout her speech and said her husband knows their struggle both person-ally and through letters sent by citizens. She said Obama told her, “We’ve got to keep working to fix this. We’ve got so much more to do.”

Today is the last day of the DNC, when Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will accept the Democratic nominations for president and vice president.