Bernie in Belgrade

So Thursday night I was out to dinner with a friend and business partner. The gentleman is educated and his background is fascinating, so conversation is always lively. We had already discussed Adam Jones’ Genocide book on my desk. The topic of his last visit had been Obama’s election, it was not long before the conversation once again turned to US politics.

My friend expressed great surprise that I was not supporting Hillary. At one point he even exclaimed, “So you are not a feminist!” This statement truly shocked me, so I began to explain my reasons and exchange ideas with him.

It was such an interesting conversation because he spoke deeply about his own feelings when the people of the United States elected Obama. Although he is an EU citizen, his is Rwandan. I also talked about how meaningful that moment was to me as well. However, I explained that I felt that Bernie’s candidacy was prepared to take on so many problems with the direction our country is going. His candidacy provides all of us an opportunity to work together to get America off its current path. Of course, most of the world would also like to see us off this path as well — so that point was well received.

I talked of Obama’s presidency as the beginning of something greater. I explained that I would love to have a woman president, but that I wanted more than what this female candidate had to offer. I saw a chance to make a difference in the lives of so many others – from every walk in life.

Just as Obama has a history as a community organizer, Bernie has a history as an organizer. Bernie understands the need to push back against power. This is what we truly need today – leadership prepared to push back against power, while encouraging us to push back as well. Our structure no longer serves us well. We have seen that in studies, and Senator Warren also released a report on rigged justice.

I am happy to say that by the end of the evening, someone else was truly feeling that bad ole Bern…