“Berners” took to the streets of Flint on Sunday, March 6, to show their support for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in his debate against Hillary Clinton.

The picketers met on top of the Mott Community College parking complex. Walking up to the group, I was instantly met with people shouting “Bernie, Bernie, he’s our man. If he can’t do it, no one can.”

People were holding up pro-Sanders signs and preparing themselves to walk to the street to support their candidate.

I talked to many people at the rally. Two that stood out to me were Oakland Community College students Ms. Alicia Dubreville and Ms. Rayna Elmy.

When asked what they love about Sanders, the two had great answers.

“(I love) that he is an honest politician that sticks to his word,” Dubreville said.

Elmy added to that and said, “and the fact he doesn’t take all his donations because he cares more about the people than the big businesses.”

The two said that Sanders’ ideas definitely match their own.

“He’s for freedom, and everybody likes to talk about how he’s a socialist, but to me, he is a democratic socialist who believes in the people,” Dubreville said.

To them, Sanders is the candidate that sides the most with younger people.

“If you look around here today, I saw like a 12-year-old here earlier with a (Sanders) sign, and there are like older people here, too. It’s crazy. Everyone is here. It’s freezing, and here we are. I’m definitely not leaving,” Elmy said.

Despite the 30-degree temperatures, hundreds of people were ready to show their support.

Before taking to the streets, a few megaphone speeches were made.

First to speak was Mr. Joe Schaefer of the Wayne-Westland group. He spoke about what the wealthy are trying to do to make sure they have power, and how the middle class needs to show them that they will not stand for it.

“We’re standing out here because we understand the magnitude of importance of choices that lie before us,” Schaefer said. “Because, you see, our nation is at a crossroads of two different paths that we must choose to embark on: a path of ignorance, and greed, and bigotry or a path of understanding generosity and togetherness.”

Schaefer went on to say that people in Flint know a lot about the first path, seeing that Gov. Rick Snyder talks about a surplus when the state has schools in poor conditions.

“In Michigan,” he said, ” we have a government that cares more about the costs of the city’s resources than whether or not those resources will poison its citizens. In Michigan, we have a legislature that thinks democracy is the root of its problems.”

Schaefer then expanded his generalization, saying that Michigan is not the only place that knows the path of ignorance.

“Because right now we live in a country that thinks it’s OK to tell parents that they need to get back to work only after a few days of having a child because right now we live in a country that thinks it’s OK,” Schaefer said, “and money is considered the same thing as speech.

“We live in a country that thinks it’s OK that it’s easier to buy a gun than it is to go and vote,” he said. “We live in a country that thinks it’s OK that the banks that were ‘too big to fail’ in 2008 are now twice as big today; that thinks it’s OK that 400 people have more wealth than 150 million …. But make no mistakes, this fight is not between Republicans and Democrats. No, this fight is between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.'”

Schaefer said that our campaign finance system is corrupt and the people with more money tend to have a bigger influence.

He ended with, “Our voices may be small versus the fat cats on Wall Street, but when we stand together we can make sure our voices are heard … and make sure that Bernie Sanders is the next president of the United States.”

He was my favorite speaker, and I loved how passionate he was. It was obvious the crowd agreed with what he was saying.

Then, Ms. Arianna Quan, current Miss Wayne County, spoke about how important it was to get the young to the polls.

“As an ambassador for Rock the Vote, I have been trying so hard to get young people involved in politics,” Quan said. “Thanks so much for being here; for being involved in the democratic process; for being concerned about minorities and the future of our country as a whole because we cannot be a strong country if not all of us are as strong.”

She reminded the crowd that the democratic process does not stop after the primary Tuesday, March 8. She said everyone needs to let their voices be heard so what is happening in Flint never has to happen again.

Quan ended when she said, “Let’s keep this energy going, and go over there, and show them who we’re here for.”

After another speech that rallied the crowd, we were off.

I stood among the hundreds marching their way to The Whiting shouting “Bernie Sanders, not for sale!”

It was one of the best experiences of my life. I was surprised how many people turned out to show their support.

When we made it to the outside of The Whiting, we came into contact with a group of people protesting minimum wage. They were calling for $15 an hour, chanting, “We work, we sweat for 15 on our check.”

The crowd of Sanders supporters eventually migrated into the minimum wage group, and we all stood shouting loudly and proudly what needs to be fixed in our government.

We chanted whatever we could think of, from “When I say Bernie, you say Sanders,” to “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the status quo has got to go!”

There were people standing on top of a snow bank, yelling into megaphones about the much-needed political change in the United States.

One person I recognized was former Kearsley student Becca Taylor.

Taylor made her way to the top, and had the megaphone in her hand. She electrified the crowd.

Taylor said why she decided to be a voice in the rally.

“There were some Hillary supporters at the rally, and I wasn’t sure who exactly I was chanting for,” Taylor said, “so I jumped up on the snow bank for a better view. And I got the megaphone most likely because the guy up there felt bad for me for destroying my voice, but also to get people shouting so their collective voices could be heard.”

Taylor said she will be voting for Sanders.

“I am voting for Bernie Sanders because he sees what is wrong with our political system, or economic system, and our social system,” she said. “He is the type of politician that isn’t afraid to admit when he’s wrong and isn’t afraid to admit that he has changed his opinion because of new information.”

Taylor had a lot to say about Sanders, but one thing about him sticks out to her.

“By far, my favorite thing he is advocating for is a woman’s right to make her own choices for her body,” Taylor said. “That is something that is very dear to me.”

Ending my interview with Taylor, I asked her to give advice to an American youth that wants to vote. I liked her response.

“Voting is not hard,” Taylor said. “But it is the most important thing that we as Americans can do for our country. The millennials make up 40 percent of all voters, yet hardly any of us actually vote. That needs to change.”

In the public assembly area nearby, people were holding up pictures of 100 Flint children that have been drinking contaminated water on behalf of the Voices Seen, Voices Heard – The Children of Flint, MI project.

The goal of the project is for people to see just who is drinking the polluted water. Maybe then people will want to change the situation.

At this point, it was 7:30 p.m., and I rushed to get home and watch the debate on CNN.

I’m happy that Sanders and Clinton decided to come to Flint. I liked hearing what they had to say about what’s important to us.

At the end of the day, I learned that politics are important.

Growing up with parents who did not care too much about government, I am happy to say that in November, I am going to be the first of my family to vote.

For all who are not sure who to vote for, or even if they want to vote, it does not hurt to go to a rally. You will meet amazing people and have an amazing time.

Don’t forget, although there may still be time to decide whether or not to vote, the primary is Tuesday. If you can, go out and vote for who you have in mind so they can be on the ballot in November when you make the final choice.

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