Women came together to show how supporting Bernie Sanders and being a feminist are not mutually exclusive positions at Women for Bernie on Wednesday.
Recently, there has been an uproar of criticism toward women who support Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton, claiming they do not support feminism. Many at the event disclaim this notion, stating they are not misinformed on their decision. Anna Mesa, a public health graduate student, made her objections to this known.
"There's been a lot of backlash against women who are supporting Bernie instead of Hillary, and I think that that's a little ridiculous. Bernie is also very strong in women's issues," Mesa said.
Women for Bernie is a nationwide event, and hosted meet-ups on the same day and time all over the United States on Wednesday. The event featured a video message from Sen. Nina Turner, as well as local speakers discussing different aspects of what Sanders plans to assist.
Local speakers included Virginia Sanders, a South Carolina progressive activist, who spoke on raising the minimum wage; Dr. Emilio Perez-Jorge, who spoke on the universal healthcare; and Bryanta Booker, president of Young Democrats of South Carolina and chairwoman of the Young Leaders for Bernie, who spoke on the issues faced in getting more people to vote. Nurses for Bernie, sponsored by National Nurses United for Patient Protection, was also present at the event.
The public meet-up in Columbia was hosted by a private party at the Lourie Center. Elaine Cooper, a co-host of the Columbia event and a longtime volunteer for the Bernie campaign, spoke in reference to the event.
"I think there's something like 127 locations in 37 different states, including Alaska, going on at the same time, and I know I am the only one who's live-streaming the event." Cooper said. "Of course with that I hope to widen out the audience. We're just having a bunch of different events to raise awareness."
The Women for Bernie meet-up was an informative event that came in time for the upcoming Democratic preliminaries on Feb. 27.