Photos by Claire Edkins and Rachel Barnhart
Written by Rachel Barnhart
#MarchforBernie2, the second March for Bernie Sanders on held Saturday, Feb. 27, was an open event on Facebook for months before the event. Excitement buzzed around the March in Savannah, as Sanders is a buzzing subject of conversation for SCAD students.
Starting in Forsyth park, the group of Sanders supporters made their way down Bull Street. The crowd carried a variety of signs, some homemade and some given out by the official campaign. Slogans such as “Bernie’s Not for Sale” and “End Poverty Wages” raised to the beat of chants ringing through the air.
A variety of ages, races and social and cultural backgrounds gathered to support their favorite presidential candidate. Chants like “Walk the Walk, Feel the Bern” echoed through the squares as they made their way towards Bay Street.
Members of the crowd addressed issues that spanning topics such as human rights, wage, and gender inequality. Many marchers were open about how they hoped their concerns would be affected if Sanders is elected as the Democratic presidential candidate. Many said they believe Sanders will be a component in eliminating or remedying their problems with America’s politics.
“I do believe he will practice what he preaches,” one SCAD student who would like to remain anonymous said. “If you see the fact he marched with MLK during the 1960s … that really speaks a lot.”
That isn’t to say that Sanders supporters do not see the issues he will face once in office.
“The system is rigged to keep it working in a specific way … and his promises are contained within this system,” said another anonymous SCAD student.
If elected, Sanders will face a Congress that is largely held by the Republican Party. In Obama’s administration the country has seen how a party split in two branches can be an inhibitor to the functions of government.
Many of Sanders’ supporters say they are not disheartened, but they are realistic. Most agreed that the most important of Sanders’ accomplishments is the conversations he’s started, conversations that many politicians have opened up to in the past, such as calling attention to money in politics, racial inequality in the criminal justice system and healthcare’s corruption when it comes to handicapped citizens.
It’s to be determined if 2016 will have the U.S. feeling the Bern, but the feeling at the #MarchforBernie2 left many supporters satisfied that they were marching towards a future that to be proud to leave to the next generations.
