Would Harvey Milk Endorse Bernie Sanders? The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club Just Did.
I will tell you something that Harvey Milk understood: If you’re looking to find real compassion and kindness, go to those who know what it means to struggle, to experience the depth of alienation — and you will find all that they created to humanize themselves and others.
The kindness that often comes from those who struggle and support one another rather than pushing one another down — that is truly a beautiful thing.
That is the primary similarity between Sanders and Harvey Milk.
If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.
~Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk once told his successor, Harry Britt, that if he was to be assassinated, Harry better be damn sure to make it political. The day after Harvey was murdered, Harry and others renamed the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club in honor of Harvey Milk. To Harvey, good politics addressed the vulnerabilities of everyday people and empowered those who were suffering or powerless. Bad politics maintain the status quo — they make us complacent and unaware of how possible change is — they make you settle with injustice.
“There is no excuse for the abuse of power disguised as justice in the United States”
~Harry Britt
I am angry. I am proud. I am passionately happy sometimes. That’s what it means to be human. I think we get lost when we believe we’re not supposed to be angry by what kills us. What starves us. What allows Flint to exist the way that it does? What allows all of those other cities that are worse off to stay that way? I want to make sure that we spread our voices and our message as far as possible, because I know that’s what Harvey Milk would want us to do.
Like many people who “feel the bern,” I grew up in a working class family in the Midwest. I was an activist there, went to grad school in Boston, and moved out to San Francisco to learn more about my history. I don’t speak for the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club in a formal capacity, but I do speak for myself — as a member of that club who promoted this endorsement. I am immensely proud of that we went out of our way to early-endorse Bernie Sanders. I am proud to be a member of such a human organization and I wish others could experience this group in the ways I’ve been privileged enough to experience it.
Why should this endorsement matter to you? I’m not here to answer that question, but I am here to ask it and hope that you can find your answer. Most people respectfully and reasonably don’t know the answer to that question. Most of us (including myself) were robbed of REAL American history, and the queer/black/women’s/Native American social movements that brought us where we are (and aren’t) today. Our club fights to preserve our history and future, and we do so by exposing truth, fighting for those who are vulnerable, and by promoting democracy at every level.
Like Bernie Sanders, Harvey Milk grew up Jewish in New York. Both of them grew older with an intimate understanding of the horrific impact of Adolf Hitler, war, and hatred.
It is in Harvey’s connection to suffering and in his own experiences of alienation that he connected to the working poor, people who were homeless, and those who needed real change and couldn’t wait for establishment politics to politely push for liberal and homophobic people to be convinced that they should come around — that they should prevent gay people from dying in the streets. I may be wrong, but I believe that Bernie Sanders is most similar to Harvey Milk in this way: he connects and values those who are vulnerable first. This is what is important to him.
Politics should always be about addressing the vulnerabilities of our people, not the insecurities of those who are already too powerful. For example, the ways in which people who are homeless are routinely treated as sub-human fucking sucks. I walk down my street into the stigmatized (but newly trendy) “Tenderloin,” a place known across San Francisco as the home for the homeless. I can’t avoid suffering here. I can’t turn a blind eye. I can’t help but understand some small bit of what it feels to be alienated at some level. What makes some of us who would have loved to have a female president (especially queer feminists) so angry about Hillary Clinton is that she doesn’t understand the basic principle at the core of progressive politics: the first step to addressing an issue (that you’ve made worse or that you are addressing) is to acknowledge and effectively apologize for what you have done.
Homelessness, extreme homophobia, the uniquely difficult impact of racism on many Black, Native, Asian, Latino, and African Americans in this country is difficult to understand. To many, it is easier to blame those who are suffering for their troubles than to accept the reality of difficulties that exist in the world and to do something about it. So many people are just trying to avoid pain, and unfortunately the easiest way for some people — people who haven’t had the experiences of connecting across differences — the easiest way to deal with people who suffer is to blame them for their suffering or to displace blame that may somehow be related to ourselves.
I will tell you something that Harvey Milk understood: If you’re looking to find real compassion and kindness, go to those who know what it means to struggle, to experience the depth of alienation — and you will find all that they created to humanize themselves and others.
The kindness that often comes from those who struggle and support one another rather than pushing one another down — that is truly a beautiful thing.
Like Bernie Sanders, Harvey Milk didn’t want to apologize for being who he was. He was gay. You better know it. Bernie Sanders is a Democratic Socialist. You better know it. And when done right, both of these identities can result in something beautiful, human, and revolutionary.
Harvey Milk, like Bernie Sanders, addressed issues by connecting to the labor movement, women, people of color, and people who were homeless. He trusted in the humanity of people who disagreed with him, made unpopular but humane ideas politically popular, and was not afraid to fight for them (us) in order to encourage us to politicize what was previously unthinkable, to come out of our closets, and to change queer history. Politics don’t work that well when they are top down (well, not for “us,” that is). Milk believed in changing the corrupt systems that were broken by changing and reinventing those systems and “who” got a say in the political process… Sound familiar?
When we drop our fears, progressive politics advocate for what is right — they inform people about how and why they can honestly fight against the pain that can break us. Progressive politics do not create false enemies (hello Republicans) — progressive politics address the real fear and suffering in our communities in ways that effectively create change. They’re not about making the privileged comfortable.
Join the revolutions that have made this country what it is today. Socialism is parks. Socialism is schools. Socialism affords us all of the things that we, as a society, come together to make America what it is. Socialism is under attack and our schools are suffering because of it. Socialism is about labor organization, women’s rights movements, civil rights movements. Revolution is about getting dirty out on the streets, and FIGHTING for what is right.
Why does Bernie Sanders inspire you? I think he had it right when he fought for me. I know that Bernie Sanders had it right when he fought in the Civil Rights Movement. It means more to me knowing that he did these things while others may have told him that it was political suicide.
We talked about what being progressive is, right? But what is “not” progressive? I respect Hillary Clinton, but I do not respect what her campaign has done this campaign season, or the dog whistle politics that she used when campaigning against Obama. They have shamed the poor and created false narratives, and they need to answer for this. Unfortunately, every time that Hillary is given criticism, she changes her views or casts blame in another direction. Being progressive may be a privilege, but not being progressive is a slippery slope.
To so many people it is overwhelming to humanize and advocate for people who it is politically risky to advocate for. Not to Harvey Milk. Not to Bernie Sanders. To Hillary, it depends on the group and it depends on when. She is big on the “us” vs. “them” game whenever she gets nervous, (e.g., “look how vigorous and substantive our debates are compared to the Republicans” instead of focusing on the critiques people have of her).
No candidate aside from Bernie Sanders has thousands of Muslims, Christians, Atheists, queer people, straight people, and poor people marching in streets and parks across the country shouting revolution. If you didn’t think this was the beginning of a revolution, and that people are opening their eyes to the agency they truly have, as the war on the working poor persists, what would it take you to believe that a revolution has started?
Join the revolution. Stand up. Make a video. Volunteer. Make your voice heard. Win or lose, fight for what is right and have no regrets. Join the Political Revolution. Get into the streets!
#QueerTheBern. Spread a message of hope!
Hope will never be silent…. YOU have GOT to give them hope!
~Harvey Milk
Checkout this video of Harry speaking to over 1,000 people at the Oakland #MarchForBernie! https://www.facebook.com/bradchapin007/videos/o.1661412084147454/10207759471017605/?type=2&theater
