April 9, 2016. That evening, my brother and I had VIP Apollo seats at the Bernie Sanders panel, and what a night it was.
The afternoon preluding the event was spent on the subway heading to Harlem. Not a day on public transportation goes by without remembering what kind of city New York is. The 2 train from Flatbush/Brooklyn College to Manhattan 125th is a constant reminder. The colors of the passengers change like the weather: dark, light, bright sun-shining, dreary and depressing; how can you possibly appeal to everyone? I digress.
Time closed in on what would be the Bernie Sanders panel. The audience took it upon themselves to mingle, as people do. The expectations for greatness that night were almost physically felt in the legendary Harlem room. Jhene Aiko, taking the stage, performed a three song set, setting the mood and sending a resonating feeling across the crowd. She graced the stage, approaching the crowd in a calm melodic tune, and sung her songs "Space Jam," "WAYS," and "Eternal Sunshine." She seemed to stay consistent with what one of the themes the Sanders 2016 campaign has been exalting this whole time: humility. Even Jhene’s song "Space Jam" says “we come from two different worlds.” Not everyone is going to have the exact same background as you, but what you do with what’s in common is what matters. Servicing communities out of the kindness of your heart, and stepping in for human rights because it’s the right thing to do. Bernie Sanders exudes this, and Jhene cosigned on "feeling the Bern."
Charlemagne saying Senator Sanders was running a little late to the Apollo due to his being on “CP” time shows that Bernie Sanders is as authentic as it gets. Normally, you don’t expect the candidates for presidency acting as human as he’s been.
Opening up the conversation for the night, Harry Belafonte, Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, and Erica Garner accompanied Senator Sanders on the panel. Radio personal “Charlemagne the god” mediated the discussion and started with questions about Bill Clinton’s remarks. Sanders disapproved of putting “negative vibes,” as Harry Belafonte phrased it, toward any person in particular. So Senator Sanders instead talked about the positive, the proactive solutions that were needed, instead of the reoccurring problem. The people came with a passion to ask about reformations and changes within many institutions that seem to be set against black people, poor people, people of color, and people with foreign backgrounds.
The main objective was clear: let people work and build up our communities as a country, and stop investing in the outlets that we aren’t profiting from. We need to profit, even though the United States government's budget has money. They choose to focus our finances on building the rich people instead of building up everyone. When profit comes to the majority of the people instead of just the top 1 percent, we’ll get more work done as a society, instead of being in the civil race war we’ve found ourselves in, in 2016. Senator Bernie Sanders spoke for himself, believing that the communities that need the most help should get the most jobs, and the war in Iraq was a war we should've never been with from the start.
Harry Belafonte expressed that he feels that the Senator is moving toward the future. He also pointed out the experience of both him and Senator Sanders throughout the decades fighting for civil rights, poor people's rights, union rights, and women’s rights. The fires in Harry and Bernie were as if they were fresh out of their undergrad college years.
Senator Nina Turner and Erica Garner didn’t hold their tongues one bit with their remarks towards Hilary or reform, including the police force. Senator Nina Turner has experience tied to the police force, as her husband is an officer, and she spoke about being a parent to a black child in a world where he could be mistaken as a statistic, no matter what. The conversation on the abuse black people and people of color in general have received from police was very alive in the room. Nina Turner spoke on police violence, and also got an agreeable response from the audience when she said not all cops are bad. The problem has never been every single part of every single institution, but the bad seeds that need to be weeded out for the growth to happen.
Being brought together under one great cause of injustice displayed against the world is what brings all people to support Bernie Sanders. He stands for the little guy, coming from a background of seeing the little guy be stepped on and looked over, killed and disregarded. Senator Sanders has been fighting the good fight, and as Erica Garner explained, he's the only humane option; he's been consistent with his goals for a long time and will not give in, nor give up, so we shouldn't either. I believe in Bernie Sanders, and the experience was a riveting one, with a focus being set that work has to be done on everyone's part.
