On January 23, #Movement4Bernie Seattle organized a rally and march that drew 500 people from Seattle and across the region, some driving 50 miles to attend the event.
At the pre-march rally, WFSE Local 1488 President Paula Lukaszek, a veteran of the Seattle Fight for $15 and member of Socialist Alternative, spoke about why her union local had endorsed Bernie Sanders in contrast to her international, “I want a President who will act on the needs of the little people like me and the 99%”. Socialist Alternative member Kofi Weusijana spoke about the fight for racial equity and how the Sanders campaign offered the best opportunity for movements to unite and organize against the billionaire class that exploits us all. Kailyn Nicholson of #Movement4Bernie spoke last and gave a heartfelt speech about how she and so many other youth would benefit from winning Bernie’s program.
On the march, people chanted “we are ready to fight, health care is a human right” and “tax, tax, tax the rich, tax the rich to fund green jobs”. For many of the participants it was their first political event and first time marching in the streets. One excited supporter said afterwards that marching in the streets was empowering.
The march ended with a short rally on UW campus where Socialist Alternative organizer Jess Spear put forward the need to organize independent of the Democrats, to continue building the movement against the billionaire class, and that our movement should not support Walmart candidate Hillary Clinton.
After the march, people signed up with #Movement4Bernie to stay involved and attend the next event. Around 100 people went to a public live stream of Bernie Sanders’ national address to volunteers and heard Socialist Alternative organizers Jess Spear and Sarah White explain what strategy is needed for Bernie to win the primaries and for us to win his bold pro-worker, pro-environment program. A lively discussion followed with a few excited to help organize #Movement4Bernie in Seattle and plan the next event.
Contact us and sign up at www.Movement4Bernie.org – get involved!
Watch more Socialist Alternative speeches from #MarchForBernie.