South Central, Los Angeles–Journalist and human rights activist Shaun King visited California in December and made a stop specifically in the communities of Black Los Angeles.
The trip was in support of 2020 Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders and the opening of Sanders field office in South Central.
The former Vermont Senator seemingly remains one of the top political candidates for the Democratic primary, along with Joe Biden.
The primary elections are scheduled to take place from February until June.
Read More: Shaun King Visits Compton & Carson Before Opening Bernie Sanders Field Office in South Central
“Bernie of all people is honored that you are a fan and supporter of his. I am honored that you follow me and double tap on my Instagram posts that’s great. We need you to make the pivot from being a fan, to seeing yourself as organizers. If all of us vote, that’s not enough. Bernie wont win Los Angeles if it’s just us,” King said outside the Big House in Los Angeles where Sanders office is stationed.
“Each person that’s here you’re going to have to start asking yourself, how am I going to be able not just to duplicate myself once or twice, but how am I going to be able to duplicate myself ten times or twenty times? How am I going to be able to recruit enough friends and family and co-workers and neighbors? How am I going to be able to recruit 100 people? If each of us here got 100 people to vote for Bernie, then we were going to win this zip code. We are going to win this district. But if it’s just us, it’s not enough,” King continued
Justin Lewis, who is the Regional Field Director for Bernie Sander’s South Central office, says he supports Bernie Sanders because he wants to see free health care for all. He is attracted to Sanders idea of health care because his mother is currently battling cancer.
“I want to make sure that myself, my family and other peoples families in the Black community are able to have free health care. They can go to any hospital and have that type of care. If you noticed, Black people have high rates of diabetes, and high-blood pressure. That affects us the most, it’s a silent killer. So, if we can have something where we can get the best medical care we need for free and all medical debt wiped away, that’s a good thing. It’s going to have us living a lot longer.”
Civil Rights attorney Lee Merritt was also in attendance at the opening of Bernie Sanders field office. As a native of the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles, Merritt said he was back in California for the holidays and wanted to support King, who is a close friend of Merritt’s.
“When I made the plans to come to town, my friend Shaun King mentioned he would be out here for Bernie and asked me to join him.”
Merritt says that from his view, Black Americans should support Bernie Sanders as a candidate for the 2020 election due to Sanders background in civil rights.
“Bernie is one of the few candidates that has articulated a platform to deal with the destructive nature of the criminal justice system. Specifically, holding police officers accountable for misconduct and implementing policies to address the crisis within American policing; which is the use of deadly force directed at Black Americans,” Merritt said.
