LaRaviere: When my oldest
brother Michael was born,
my mother was told
that she had to leave
because she could not bring
a black child
into that neighborhood.
So she left
and she tried to make a way
for herself and her child
on the Southside.
We lived in extreme poverty.
I remember being sent downstairs
to put snow in the bucket
and then taking that water
and pouring it into
the back of a toilet
so that we could flush it
because we didn't have
running water that month.
I remember that existence.
I didn't go to college
straight from high school
'cause I didn't think
I would succeed.
After my first semester,
I had straight A's.
Second semester, straight A's.
When I looked at
this report card and I thought,
"What gave me such
a low assessment of myself
that I thought I wouldn't
succeed here?"
Then I decided then and there
that I was going to be a teacher
so that any kid
who came through my classroom
would not walk away
from my classroom
not understanding his
or her potential the way I did.
I saw that photograph
of Bernie Sanders
chained to a black woman
protesting segregation
in the 1960s.
That photograph tells me more
about his willingness
to fight for the rights
of all people
than anything any politician
has ever said.
Being able to have
a college education
transformed my view of
what I could be in this world.
It shouldn't just be
a small group of people
who get access
to that kind of experience.
Every American,
regardless of their income,
should have access
to a college education.
These things are possible.
The impossible is possible.
And that's one of the reasons
that I love Bernie Sanders.
He sees an America
that's beyond the current
limitations that we have.
He sees an America
that I see with his hope,
where things you thought could
never be done can be done.
That is why I support
Bernie Sanders.
Sanders: I'm Bernie Sanders
and I approve this message.
