We marched with Bernie’s dedicated fans in Washington DC

Around 11:35am I hopped off of the silver line metro in Washington DC’s Farragut West utterly excited and semi nervous. For the first time in my life I’d be documenting a gathering of sorts for a social cause rather than just participating. I’ve been to multiple rallies and protests in my short 18 years ranging from Black Lives Matter to Palestinian Liberation to Student Debt to the one and only Bernie Sanders rally in the Bronx of New York. Every single one was just as exciting as the last but the experience was still different from holding a camera and writing an article on the cause.

For the next hour on a sunny, overly-heated Sunday afternoon I wandered Farragut Square Park looking for potential people to interview. Although I saw only a small gathering of supporters, I still saw passion and hope that Bernie could revive America. As the hour went on the crowd started to increase. Families, teens, college students, young professionals, you name it, all decked out in their Bernie Sanders gear. The funny thing was even though most arrived strangers, they became united by the singular desire to push Bernie towards the finish line.

Midway through creating my 40th introduction video, I observed a man walk through the crowd followed by his much quieter companion yelling over and over “Fuck you Bernie Sanders, Fuck you too, Fuck all of you damn liars.” People quieted down over this sudden display of tension but unlike the usual Trump rally, no violence was displayed towards the man. Everyone kept on like nothing happened. Personally I found a shard of truth in his words, we’re all liars in the end. Activists, politicians, prominent figures, etc consistently making promises for a better world. Yet the world still seems shrouded by conflict. Still out of each mainstream candidate, Bernie seems to hold the most truth.

I interviewed multiple people and the consensus was hope still existed for Bernie to beat out Clinton in the nomination process. But ultimately if he loses, people agreed Trump can’t be our future President. Although one woman said she believes “Trump is more liberal than Clinton.” Many supporters begrudgingly agreed they’d vote for Clinton. Many others claimed they would write Bernie in or vote for Jill Stein. On the topic of both Trump and Clinton withdrawing from the opportunity to debate Bernie, most people were disappointed. There seemed to be consensus that Trump and Clinton appeared to be scared of the fallout from a debate with him.

After finally gathering enough interviews, I stood around with the rest of the attendees under the warm sun. With only a few minutes left to spare until the clock finally hit 1pm we all lined up to be herded forward by the organizers of the march. Although the numbers in attendance were small, the march created a presence that screamed that there was still hope for a better America in the hands of a single small Jewish elderly man named Bernie Sanders.

The march started with a chant that appeared to have the words “for the people” over and over. The chants changed from “Feel the Bern” to “Who got sold out? We got sold out!” The march continued on under the bright sun as police followed behind to make sure that any form of rowdiness would be contained. They marched on to people silently observing, to people cheering on in support, or to cars honking. I ran alongside with the few other student reporters snapping photos and as much footage as possible. I found to my disbelief that the mainstream media really could care less about Bernie Sanders. Yes, this was a small gathering of marchers rather than a major large turnout. Still I would have expected at least one local news outlet. There was no one to be seen but me, a few student reporters from a news service in Hong Kong, and the occasional radical news outlet.

Finally, I had found in my hands enough footage and photos. I quietly slipped out of the march with the rest of the student reporters. I headed to the metro covered in sweat. After filling up my metro card at McPherson Square, a man walked by me and yelled “Bernie!” while cheering and clapping his hands. It took me a minute to leave my mental daze and yell “Yeah feel the Bern!” back.

I hopped back onto the silver line and dozed off as I waited to re-enter suburban DC. I silently left the metro station not realizing that I was holding my Bernie Sanders for President sign right side up. A woman walked past me out rightly noticing my sign and yelled “Support Trump!” I didn’t respond, both too exhausted to notice and not insulted enough to bother. While sitting in an air conditioned car I started to wonder about the encounter. Was I supposed to be insulted, did she expect me to react aggressively? Ultimately I was confused, is it supposed to be an insult when you yell who you support? Truth be told I don’t support Trump, and I do sometimes question the people who do. But being out rightly violent towards dissent gets you nowhere. That isn’t the spirit of the revolution of Bernie Sanders, he wouldn’t use violence to get his way. Unlike his opponents, Bernie believes in debate and discussion rather than hiding from the problems that America faces.

For that exact reason, Bernie supporters still have hope that the Bern can revive America.