Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a date to celebrate one of the most influential voices in the history of the civil rights movement. This year, thousands of Alabamians celebrated by attending a political rally at the Boutwell Memorial Auditorium in Birmingham for presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
“There must be a mistake, someone told me Alabama is a conservative state,” Sanders joked as he addressed the crowd of 5,700 people inside the auditorium and another 1,400 in a separate location outside.
The senator’s speech focused primarily on the accomplishments of King, and how Sanders would further those if elected president. The main focus of this rally was to address different forms on inequality. “To truly honor the life of Dr. King, we must fight to carry out his radical and bold vision for America,” Sanders said on Jan.18.
The senator used the occasion to point out that the legacy of Dr. King was incorporated into the Democratic Socialist ideology that he is running on, specifically the issue of income inequality. Pointing out that in 1966 King himself said there needs to be “a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move towards a Democratic Socialism.”
Sanders recalled marching with Dr. King in Washington to further establish himself as a longtime advocate for equal rights. He is also trying to connect with African-American voters. His case may have been helped by the guest speakers at the event, which included former Ohio Sen. Nina Turner and longtime activist Cornel West. Each of these speakers have respectively offered their support for the presidential candidate.
The candidate’s stop in Birmingham is strategic for his campaign as Alabama is one of the early primary states, voting on March 1 otherwise known as Super Tuesday.
Not everyone was pleased with the rally however, with Alabama Rep. Terry Lathan calling the visit a part of Sanders’ “2016 free stuff tour.” Other criticisms suggested that Sanders’ rally displaced many homeless people on the coldest night of the year, since the Boutwell Memorial Auditorium is used as a warming station. Both the campaign and the venue owners dismissed this suggestion, and said that other areas such as the Salvation Army and First Light shelters were opened to make up for the temporary relocation of the homeless.
By Nathan Howell
Photo courtesy of Joel Valencia