By Vince Emanuele

I served two deployments in Iraq. During my time as a Marine, I saw innocent people tortured and killed. I saw our troops causing violence and instability, instead of stopping it.

A week before I left for my second deployment, I began to question why we were in Iraq and the Middle East. As I began to educate myself about the war, I learned about a senator named Bernie Sanders who consistently opposed it.

He talked about how the military-industrial complex’s trillions of dollars in spending on endless wars were tied to austerity here at home. He’s been committed to building a culture of resistance, for his entire career.

Since I came home to Michigan City, Indiana, I have been involved in organizing at the local and state level to continue to build that culture of resistance.

I helped to found PARC — Politics, Art Roots and Culture — a community cultural center that aims to give people a place to connect, rebuild and organize. PARC is home to Organized and United Residents of Michigan City, a group that engages people who feel left out of the system, and helps to elect progressive candidates at all levels of government.

Most people in Michigan City survive month to month. This economic uncertainty causes violence in the streets and in homes. People feel alienated, isolated and forgotten.

And they have been forgotten by the political establishment. Which is why we need a new way of doing things — a new political order — that prioritizes the needs of working people.

2020 is our chance to make our political revolution a reality. I look forward to working to engage people all across Indiana, and the nation, to take our country back.