Character is who you are when no one is watching. – John Wooden

John Wooden is not only known as the greatest college basketball coach of all time, but also as the greatest coach in any sport. Wooden is not only known as a great coach, but also as a man of high integrity and character. I really like Wooden’s definition of character. It’s much better than the Merriam-Webster definition of character which is defined “as the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”

Someone who has lived by Wooden’s definition of character is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Unlike many politicians, Bernie Sanders is the same person he is in the dark as he is when all the lights are on. Bernie Sanders has had the same stances on issues his entire career and fought for us even when we didn’t know he was fighting for us. You could listen to any of his speeches from the 1990s and you would think that it is one of his campaign speeches from 2016. He has been that consistent.

Early on in the primary process, like most people, I had no clue who Bernie Sanders was. Then one day, a couple of friends of mine were discussing politics and asked me, what did I think about Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. I told them that I’m not a fan of Hillary Clinton and I don’t know who Bernie Sanders is. My friends urged me to listen to Sanders but I just brushed them off saying “all politicians are the same. They say one thing and then do something completely different than what they say they are going to do.”

I later realized that my thoughts were incredibly ignorant. I criticize people all the time for allowing one rotten apple to spoil the bunch although when it comes to politicians, it seems most apples are rotten. I decided that night to look into Bernie Sanders. I looked at the Bills he voted for and voted against, I looked his current policy positions and I watched hours and hours of YouTube videos and I really liked what I saw. Secretly, I was impressed.

When the weekend rolled around, instead of going out with friends and having fun, I did even more research on Sanders. I just kept thinking, there is no way Sanders could be who he says he is. Politicians aren’t actually public servants. They don’t care about their constituents. It’s all about the money. Sanders must be that way too. He has been a politician for over 30 years. Money must have corrupted him some way, somehow. I just knew if I searched hard enough, I would find something that would make me say “AH HA. I knew he was like everyone else.” I could not wait to expose him for the fraud he is and then have a reason not to vote. I searched and searched but no matter how hard I searched, that “AH HA” moment never appeared. Instead, my level of admiration for him grew even more, but secretly of course. I really didn’t want to like any politician. I did not want to get my hopes up just to be let down. So I continued my search.

After about a month and a half of daily research, I began to show my support for Sanders. I posted videos of how consistent he has been. I posted videos on his policies and how they affect people positively. I even donated, canvassed and phone banked but my heart still wasn’t there. I was still hesitant to throw my full support behind Sanders even though it appeared to the public that I had. At that point, my heart still wasn’t fully with Sanders despite my knowing that he was arrested fighting for the rights of African Americans, despite knowing that he has always fought for the poor and middle class, despite knowing that he has always fought to educate our kids, despite knowing that he has always fought for women rights, despite the fact the he has fought for the LGBT community before it became cool with other politicians, despite my knowing he was against all the wars, despite knowing that he was against trade deals like NAFTA, PFTA and the TPP that have harmed the economy, ruined many people’s lives and has further reduced income for the middle class amongst many other things. At this point I knew a lot about Sanders but I was still skeptical.

Then it happened.

On March 16, 2016, I scrolled through my Facebook stories. I ignore much of the things my friends post because much of it is nonsense. As I was scrolling, a post about Bernie Sanders caught my eye. At that point, I wasn’t looking for anything negative about Sanders, I just was curious because of the date of the video. The video was dated October 10^th, 1993. I was only 37 days old at this point.

I clicked on the video and it happened. There was my Bernie moment. It was at that moment, that I fully supported Bernie Sanders. There was no more doubt. There was no more skepticism. There was no more trepidation. At that moment, I knew Bernie Sanders is who he says he is. In that moment, Bernie Sanders was no longer a politician to me, but a public servant. Bernie Sanders was no longer a character to me, but a man of great character. Sanders was no longer a person with a friendly smile in the light but would eat your heart out in the dark. He is a human being even when there are no lights and no one is watching him

What exactly did my Bernie Moment entail? In that video, Bernie Sanders stood on the senate floor Warning about NAFTA. He said NAFTA would force American workers to compete with the impoverished workers of Mexico for wages of 58 cents an hour and that if American workers are forced to compete with the low waged Mexican workers, congress should lead by example and make their wages comparable to that of Mexican Chamber of Deputies members which is the Mexican version of our House of Representatives. Mexican Chamber of Deputies members made $35,000 a year at the time. Sanders’ bill proposed that the American House of Representatives’ salaries should reduce their salary to that of the Mexican Chambers of Deputies salary if NAFTA was passed. The most amazing thing that I noticed was that the room was pretty much empty. He did not say this in front of a large crowd. Technology wasn’t the way it is today for him to expect anything that what he said would go viral. He just spoke from his heart and said what he believed even though no one was there to hear it or see it. In that video, I saw who he was when no one was watching, I don’t agree with everything that Bernie Sanders has said throughout his political career but the difference between Sanders and the other candidates is, we know who he is all the time. He doesn’t become a monster when it is dark. You can (Click Here) to watch the video on YouTube.

Before my Bernie Moment, my one trepidation about him was that he could be bought like most politicians. After watching that video, I know longer had that worry. That was my Bernie Moment. The moment that showed, who he is when no one was watching.

Thank you for reading. I really hope you enjoyed. Please comment below what was your Bernie Moment. Also please go on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and use the hashtag #MyBernieMoment so I can read your stories and perhaps share some of them in my next article.

If you enjoyed this article please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for previews to future articles and a potential YouTube channel? Thank you all for the support. My first 2 articles got over 900 shares in less than two weeks. I cannot express how much I appreciate you gals and guys. You keep me inspired. If you want to read either of my two previous articles like the one on the $15.00 minimum wage you can click here. Or if you want to really about what makes Bernie Sanders a great leader, you can click here. Also, please check out this amazing article on what it’s like growing up as a Muslim in America after September 11, 2001 by Layla Abdel-Jabbar, you can click here. WARNING: You may shed a few tears while reading Layla's article. I also cannot forget to thank my friends Jon Powell, Jesse Dugan and Ty WURTH for helping me to understand that the word “politician” does not equal bad. Again thank you so much and please let me know your Bernie Moment. #FeelTheBern #BernieOrBust #StillSanders