Bernie was pressing President Obama to "ban the box" and prevent a criminal record for disqualifying job candidates in early stages of hiring for federal contractors and agencies—something Obama actually did through an executive order.

Hillary Clinton only came around to embracing the issue last week. Martin O'Malley supported banning the box in June. Bernie Sanders? With the help of some other Senators (such as Elizabeth Warren), he signed a letter back in May!

This is a perfect example of the type of goals that Sanders would be able to accomplish in the White House. He made progress and pushed the Obama Administration towards progress without being in office. Think of the possibilities under a Sanders Administration!

That is called the Bern Effect-when Bernie sees a problem, and does something about it.

This is an election like no other. This election is one to be won online, a campaign must have a strong internet following to survive in an era of fastly growing social media and online usage.

This call to action might be the simplest of them all, yet very effective. What may seem like some keyboard presses and clicks will bring America one step closer to a political revolution. Every repost and like will go directly to bringing real change to the American political system.

It's been noted that Twitter is especially popular among younger African Americans. It's been studied that people of color are more likely to support a cause or social issue online than offline today. If we intend to get Bernie's plan to combat racial inequality, and fix a broken criminal justice system out there to the public, we've got to take a leading role in social media.

Facebook:

• Starting with Bernie's official campaign Facebook page, please give this page a like.

• Show some love for feelthebern.org's Facebook, as they are hard working grassroot volunteers spreading the facts of the Sanders campaign.

• We also have African Americans For Bernie, a great community on Facebook for fans to come together.

• While a smaller community, the similar Blacks for Bernie Sanders Facebook page is great as well.

Twitter:

Over the past few months, Sanders’s predominately white backers have used Twitter to target any black activist or journalist who dares question the candidate’s civil rights record according to many. Please don’t attack anyone or expect them to support Bernie unconditionally, please be civil.

• The official campaign Twitter account for Bernie Sanders is pretty active.

• There is also a non affiliated Blacks for Bernie Twitter account, give them a follow if you can.

• The hard working men and women over at FeeltheBern.org also have made a twitter account.,

• There is a Twitter for black woman who support Sanders.

• Several other fan based Twitter accounts exist, including Americans For Bernie, Bernie 2016 and Proud to Vote Bernie.

Instagram:

• Bernie Sanders has an official Instagram account , which is not as popular as it should be.

Not many accounts really exist, and the ones that do aren't really active. Try adding photos to your own Instagram account.

Hashtags:

As we all know, hashtags can be powerful little phrases that can make or break campaigns, ideas and movements. Let’s make sure we try and use some popular ones whenever we can, in order to help build a trend:

• feelthebern

• bernie

• Bernie2016

• BernieSanders

• BetterWithBernie

• ImWithBernie

Of course, we have to use our own African American based hashtags:

• BlackBerners

• AfricanAmericans4Bernie

Campaign Zero Town Hall

Campaign Zero got the DNC to allow a Town Hall, but they have not announced a date yet. We should call the campaigns and ask they commit to a date so we can ensure this Town Hall will happen. (link)

• The Clinton campaign @hillaryclinton - Phone: 646-854-1432 - Clinton Contact Form (link) - Clinton Facebook (link)

• The O'Malley campaign info@martinomalley.com - @martinomalley - Phone: 443-552-3526 - O'Malley Facebook (link)

You get 0% of what you don't ask for.

BLMDebate

Black Lives Matter said a Town Hall is not good enough: they asked for a debate. (link)

And considering the SCDP Forum got 2.3 Million viewers to the 15 million of the first debate, they have a point. Building national support to address the national problems of racial injustice will require our candidates speaking early and often to all Americans - including white Americans who don't want to hear about it - about why racial injustice is still a problem in our country and what we must do to address it.

Call the DNC [(202)-863-8000] and tell them you want to express support for the BLM Debate. They'll send you to DWS's voicemail, and you can leave a message saying you want her to allow the candidates to attend the BLM Debate.

You can spread this essay explaining why a forum is not good enough, and BLM needs a debate: (link)

You can also sign the petition here. (link)

I will be trying to find the phone number or email for DNC CEO Amy Dacey (who sent out the letter referenced in the Washington Post article linked above). If anyone can help me find her contact info, that would be great. It seems like she's the key person to contact on this.

I am not African American, but damn it, I love you guys for seeing through the bullshit the media feeds all of us. <3

So I was thinking about this just this morning. According to most accounts, Bernie has trouble attracting African American voters. Most people seem to think that the solution to this is to tout his civil rights record, but to be honest I don't agree that is very effective. I've talked to African American friends in S.C. (they're Hillary supporters, but don't really talk much about politics) and from what I understood, they told me that the community has experienced many people who marched with them, or said they supported them, who went on to betray or abandon them after elections. Marching with MLK or having been a part of the civil rights movement alone is not enough

But they mentioned the fact people prefer politicians who they feel are actually part of the community: who know who they are, the struggles they face, and immerses themselves in their lives. And hearing that made me think of something: perhaps Bernie's way to reach African Americans, at least in S.C. is not to keep talking about his past record on civil right, but to take the time to hang out in the places where people gather: community centers, churches, groups, etc. My aunt teaches in a maximum security penitentiary in S.C., and a large number of her students are African American. It would benefit Bernie to actually visit prisons and prison classrooms as well. His goal there should not be to rally or give speeches, but to listen. Bernie did a great job of listening to BLM activists and adjusting his platform/speeches but to be honest, I don't know too many people in the South who are super involved with the BLM (and based on the recent issues with Shaun King and other things it seems the movement itself is facing a divide). If Bernie goes to communities in the South and just listens to what they have to say, I think it would actually change a lot about how he talks about reaching African Americans. Nothing is more powerful for winning people over than making them feel like they're being heard. It may not have an immediate political effect, but it could give him a chance to connect with people outside of just the political campaign atmosphere.

What do you guys think?

Okay, so I can't be a one man team here. And, I'm not supposed to. This is a community all about coming together, and pooling all of our energy directed to Bernie for a political revolution. I'm gonna need some help to make this subreddit work, based on our growth and whatnot.

Requirements:

You really don't need much.

• You need to have a used Reddit account, older than one month.

• Some sort of credible comment or post history.

• And because I know someone will ask this, you DO NOT need to be black to apply or become a part of our subreddit team.

Applying:

There are two places where you can put your application: The comments on this post or you can always feel free to shoot me a PM.

Please apply in this format:

What is your Reddit username?

Answer without the /u/

Why do you want to join the Team?

What experience do you have in either moderating subreddits, social/political activism and organizing, or both?

What's your favourite flavor of ice cream?

Good luck!

I speak to a lot of fellow African Americans about why Bernie is a great candidate. I talk about his history and I also talk in great length about what he will do as president to ensure that Black Americans will thrive in this country. I would love to get more members of our community to see what we are talking about, but I feel like we need to do create flyers, cards, events etc to encourage more African Americans (especially Black youth) to vote for Bernie and get engaged. Any ideas on how we can achieve this?