Breaking through the silence: The resolute urgency of organizing Bernie Honk and Waves

Since Bernie announced his 2020 run, progressive activists have been unsure about where to begin to promote his run. Since it is still early in the race, it seems that many are failing to see the urgency of the moment. Many are simply waiting — awaiting instruction from above, waiting to see what happens in the primaries, waiting for the people to be inspired to mobilize themselves. This is a fatal mistake. To win in 2020, we need to build a movement that is active and not reactive. To that end, the most important thing we can be doing at this point in the race is increasing Bernie’s public visibility.

One of the main lessons of 2016 is that we cannot depend on establishment media to give Bernie fair coverage. They will smear him and ignore him as much as they can possibly get away with. When the media doesn’t represent our voice, we need to raise our voices and become the media. Above all, this means giving Bernie visibility. For Bernie to succeed in 2020, we have to make visibility a top priority. No other candidate can inspire the level of grassroots engagement that Bernie does, and we need to make that visible in our local communities.

One might expect Bernie’s 2020 movement to pick up where it left off in 2016, but this is not the case. Things are different. Trump’s election has created an unprecedented amount of division in American society, causing many to be afraid to publicly express their views. The mass movement that Bernie ignited in 2016 is still alive, but it is in hibernation. Every day that the Bernie 2020 movement fails to mobilize is a gift to the Democratic establishment to build a narrative that Bernie is a has-been and not the de facto 2020 frontrunner.

In my experience in organizing Bernie Honk and Waves in Santa Cruz, I have noticed a curious phenomenon that confirms my thesis that Bernie’s 2016 movement has been driven underground. My observation, standing on a freeway overpass holding a large Bernie banner, is that honks for Bernie tend to come in clusters. When one driver has the courage to break through the silence and honk their horn, other drivers shortly follow and suddenly there are four or five drivers honking. When the actual level of public support becomes publicly visible, the public’s repressed support for Bernie’s 2020 run is liberated. The value of this cannot be understated.

Bernie’s 2020 run will not succeed without a movement from below. Making that movement happen can only come from us. As Victor Tiffany explains in “Bernie or Bust: Pioneers of Electoral Revolt,” a political revolution does not mean following Bernie. It means using Bernie, exploiting the opportunities opened up by Bernie. To work within the system, Bernie has to walk on eggshells. But making a revolution from below means breaking a few eggs. To bring revolutionary change to the country, the two have to work separately, but in parallel towards a common goal.

While some activists want to make a priority of educating the public, simply getting Bernie’s name out into the public sphere has enormous value in itself and should be our top priority at this particular moment. Like guerrilla warriors, we need to focus our creative energy on making public space reflective of Bernie’s actual level of mass support. By taking bold ownership of public space, we break out of the confines of a mere political subculture into a position of confident cultural hegemony. While Bernie is working to liberate the people from corporate class oppression from above, liberating our movement from its mental hibernation can only be accomplished by us from below.

I should add that the liberating aspect of Bernie Honk and Waves goes in both directions. Being the catalyst of the people releasing their support is a euphoric experience that is difficult to describe. Everyone expresses their support in a unique way. Like a comedian feeding off the energy of the crowd, it has emboldened me to take my activism to a higher level.

I urge everyone to organize a Honk and Waves in their community. While it is early in the race, it is really not early at all. Every day we wait is a gift to the Democratic establishment.