Vermont Senator and Brooklyn native Bernie Sanders in the Bronx.
Whoa—is that? Nope, it was "Bronx Obama,” a performance artist making Sanders supporters like J.L. Moreau do a double-take.
Actress Rosario Dawson accuses Hillary Clinton of being “divisive” after Clinton attacked Sanders for not jumping on Trump’s latest faux pas about abortion. “Shame on you, Hillary!” Dawson says, adding, "Oh sorry, hold on, let me watch my tone.”
Melissa McKay, a yoga and meditation teacher from Williamsburg, rode the subway with her 11-year-old son, Phoenix, who was dressed in a blue suit jacket, tie, and glasses, so he could look like Bernie. Phoenix says he loves Bernie because, “He’s not racist like a lot of people running for president, and he wants to help a lot of people like me, people who don’t have much money.”
Actress Rosario Dawson, who grew up in an East Village squat, is now a key Berner. She recently helped found the group Voto Latino, to help get out the Latin vote.
A Bernie Sanders fan at the rally.
Ronny Wasserstrom from Williamsburg started a Facebook page called Puppets4Bernie to exhibit his and other people’s Sanderesque creations: “He’s not a puppet for Wall Street. He’s putting his money where his mouth is. He says stuff that just makes me fall out of my chair. A vote for him is a vote for my conscious. I didn’t even know there was one like him in politics before he came along.”
The crowd was multiracial and multi-generational — definitely not just white Bernie bros. Cesar Medianera, 45, of the Bronx says he's backing Sanders because “he’s the best candidate, he’s very intelligent, and he’s working for the poor people to have education and good jobs.” With Medianera was Jaden Ayele, age 11, who says he supports Bernie because: “He’s a great person. We could basically just trust him.”
From left: Ellen Salzberg, 78, of City Island in the Bronx, brought her 95-year-old mother Leona Richman to the rally, with friends Violet Smith and Mara Swieciki. “I like Hillary, but I love Bernie," says Richman, a former occupational therapist. “I want a revolution. This country needs it.”
Haziine Eytina from Brooklyn came sporting a pin showing Sanders getting arrested at a Civil Rights rally in 1963. “Bernie is the only option on the table," says Eytina, who has no qualms about not supporting Hillary Clinton. “He’s the only person that’s been in the trenches with black people, and he’s not taking money from the big corporations and super PACs. We don’t want Trump. But Bernie’s the only option we have.”
Anathea Smuckler, a Marine veteran from Goshen, New York, stood at the entrance to the rally, waving people in. “Bernie is a once in a lifetime candidate” says the 26-year-old mother of two who has already traveled to South Carolina and Massachusetts to help spread the word. “He has the vision where things he said 20 or 30 years ago are becoming true today."
Cesar Medianera, who is from Peru and lives in the Bronx, says he's backing Sanders.
Michelle Bouie, a 47-year-old nurse from Morris Heights in the Bronx, says she is “coming to be convinced” by Sanders — "but I don’t want Hillary. I think Hillary already had a chance at the White House through Bill. I feel like she was already president.”
There were few mass produced signs, but there were many homemade banners.
From left: Ebony magazine editor Kierna Mayo, criminal justice advocate Donna Hylton, actress Tessa Thompson, 'The New Jim Crow' author Michelle Alexander, actress Rosario Dawson, and Symone Sanders, national press secretary for the Sanders campaign.
The group of influential women was part of a round table discussion at the Row House restaurant in Harlem (the day after the Bronx rally) discussing criminal justice issues and the pivotal role of women of color in this presidential election.
The day after the rally, actress and self-proclaimed “female agitator” Tessa Thompson joined Rosario Dawson and Michelle Alexander (author of The New Jim Crow) for a round table discussion in Harlem, discussing criminal justice issues and the pivotal role of women of color in this election.
