Young people of color need a president who has our future as the number one priority

With less than two weeks to the California primary, PowerCA Action proudly announces our inaugural endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders as candidate for president in the Democratic Primary.

As a statewide multi-racial civic engagement organization, PowerCA Action builds the political power of young people of color in California to pass progressive legislation, elect candidates and hold elected leaders accountable to governing with an agenda that will transform our communities. PowerCA Action and its sponsored committee Youth Power PAC is the only organization of its kind focused on building a voting bloc of young voters of color. This year we will engage over 250,000 young voters on the phone, at the door and online so that young people can be the difference we need to win this year and transform our state.

We need a president who believes in the power of young people. There are over 4 million young voters of color in California ready to take control of our future. We are a powerful voting bloc that now represents 75% of voters under the age of 25 in California. Sanders has energized young people and galvanized millions across the country with his bold agenda for structural reform. Sanders is also the lone candidate who supports expanding the right to vote by lowering the voting age to 16 in local municipalities. It’s time for our most diverse generation to harness our political power at the polls to shape our future.

We need a president who will restructure our economy and our democracy to work for working people -- not corporations and billionaires. Young people are inheriting an economy where job security, worker protection and wages are decreasing and cost of living for education, housing and health care are rising. We share Sanders’s vision to transform our economy into one where young people, immigrants, refugees, people of color and working class families can thrive. Sanders rises as our candidate of choice for his platform to advance a clean energy economy through a Green New Deal, for his commitment to housing for all and Medicare for All and his vision to eliminate student debt and make higher education free.

We need a president who recognizes young people are central to our collective future and that our future is in deep jeopardy unless we take bold action now. As the climate crisis threatens our existence on this planet and corporations profit off our communities, we need a president like Sanders who will stand strong against oil and gas fracking, who has a comprehensive vision to move our economy to renewable and sustainable energy and puts people over corporate interests.

We do not make this endorsement lightly. There is no perfect candidate. We agree with others that Sanders must do more to fix the wrongs of systemic racial inequality and that his campaign needs stronger plans that specifically address racial inequity in our our health care, education, housing and economic systems.

Finally, young people are skeptical of our political system and leaders for good reasons. Too many are in the pockets of corporations and billionaires and ignore young voters until it’s election time. We do not look to Sanders as our savior. We are here to save our own communities, democracy and future. We look to Sanders as an ally in the fight and as a target to hold him accountable if and when necessary. We are building a movement of young people that are ready and capable of doing just that.