A pumped up crowd of over 2,400 filled the pews at St. Phillips A.M.E. on Saturday afternoon as Atlanta Mayoral Candidate Vincent Fort was joined by Sen.Bernie Sanders for an old fashioned campaign rally.
Enthusiasitc Sanders fans — many of them white millennials — crowded into the sanctuary of Saint Philip AME Church to hear the man for whom they packed arenas and outdoor stadiums during his unsuccessful presidential run in 2016.
The throng, more than 2,400 in number, gave Sanders — Hillary Clinton’s rival for last year’s Democratic presidential nomination — and special guest, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike, the rock star treatment with screams and deafening applause that shook the rafters as the duo entered the room with Fort.
Introducing the Vermont Senator, Fort sounded the issue of economic justice, a key theme of his campaign.
“I told Sen. Sanders that Atlanta is No. 1 in income inequality and immobility,” he said. “That a child born at Grady hospital this afternoon has the least chance than any place in this country of moving from poverty into the middle class.”
Fort went on to hit on the problems of gentrification, affordable housing, reform of the criminal justice system and the decriminalization of Marijuana. Sanders picked up on these themes and re-emphasized them.
“What this campaign is about is not just electing a progressive mayor,” Sanders said. “This campaign is about bringing forward a political revolution that revitalizes democracy and gives the people the hope and the belief that in this democracy we can have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
Fort is in a crowded field of 13 candidates vying to make it into a run off.
Full video of the Rally.
If you want show the campaign some love, you can reach them at Fort for Mayor.