Grassroots Network Applauds Bernie Sanders and his Monumental Campaign

“Bernie Sanders used his presidential platform to help us imagine a better future for this country.”

04.08.2020

BURLINGTON, VT -- In response to the news that Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign for the Democratic nomination, CPD Action, a national network of grassroots community organizations that endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders in December, released the following statement from Co-Executive Directors Ana Maria Archila and Jennifer Epps-Addison:

“Bernie Sanders used his presidential platform to help us imagine a better future for this country. His campaign and the agenda it championed embodied the struggles and aspirations of Black, Brown, and working-class people and, in doing so, elevated the standard to which we will hold presidential candidates in this election and beyond. We could not be more proud to have put our first-ever presidential endorsement behind him. 

“From day one, Bernie Sanders was intentional in building a multi-racial, multi-generational movement that brought those often left on the fringes of our political system front and center. When he sat down with members of our network, he quoted Nelson Mandela: “Everything always seems impossible until it happens.” For Bernie, that meant expanding the mandate of electoral politics and bringing people together to build a democracy that works for everyone. We saw that leadership in action as he listened to youth leaders about permanently dismantling the school-to-prison-and-deportation pipeline. We saw it when he spoke with Ady Barkan about the need for Medicare for All. And we saw it over the last several weeks, as he focused his leadership on making sure that the national response to the coronavirus provides relief for those of us who are most vulnerable.

“The CPD Action Network is committed to caring for our people in this immediate crisis and defeating Donald Trump in November. The COVID-19 crisis proves the urgency of the progressive ideas that Sanders’ campaign helped popularize. Our society is only as strong as the most vulnerable among us. We must now turn our national attention to passing the relief that Black and Brown people, immigrants, and frontline workers desperately need.

“To defeat Donald Trump in November and truly be united as a Democratic Party, our leaders must make real commitments to fighting for immigrants, communities of color, and poor and working class folks. When Election Day comes in November, we hope that our communities will be able to vote for candidates up and down the ballot that have earned our votes and brought us the relief that we so desperately need.”

###