On April 8, Sen. Bernie Sanders announced he was suspending his presidential campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination. This news was difficult to hear, albeit not that surprising given the delegate deficit Sanders faced. This didn’t make the news any less disappointing for me and the millions of Americans who supported Sanders. But this is not where the movement ends.
Sanders is quite literally the only reason that I have become as politically engaged as I am today. He was the first politician I ever cast a presidential vote for. The 2016 Sanders campaign put me on a path of political awakening that has forever changed my life. And my story is far from unique. Millions of people, especially among the younger generations, have had a similar experience thanks to the Sanders movement, and for the first time, had found a politician worth getting behind.
“Not Me, Us” is both a great campaign slogan and the genuine ethos of the Sanders campaign and the movement surrounding it.
The movement is about working-class people, whether they be young, old, gay, straight, black, white, an immigrant or any other demographic under the sun; this is about working-class people coming together to stand for what they believe in.
There has never been a coalition of this size with enthusiasm that has brought so many people together. The movement will continue because it was never about Bernie Sanders.
Working-class people across this country are realizing that we are the ones who make this country run. We generate the profits that make this country the richest nation on earth.
It is about not accepting crumbs while billionaires and multinational corporations make historic profits.
The Sanders movement champions fighting for real change, to show that policies like Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and free college are not pie-in-the-sky or impossible concepts, but rational and justified.
It is about making sure all of us are taken care of.
“Are you willing to fight for someone you don’t know as much as you are willing to fight for yourself?” Sanders asked a crowd of over 26,000 at his Queensbridge Park, New York rally and received a roaring, “Yes!”
So, while Sanders may not become the president, the movement he’s generated will not stop.
It will only continue to grow, become more organized and stronger. This fight’s far from over.