The Coup’s Boots Riley says his first-ever vote will be for Bernie Sanders
The rapper and director shared a lengthy statement outlining why he believes Sanders and his movement are ideally placed to push through real change.
On Wednesday night, Boots Riley shared a detailed Twitter thread outlining why he will vote for the first time ever this year, and why the candidate that has his support in the Democratic primary and general election is Senator Bernie Sanders.
Riley, the director of 2018's Sorry To Bother You and a member of the left-wing rap group The Coup, began by reiterating his distrust of electoral politics, which he holds responsible for "reducing involvement to this one moment, this one person, and making it unclear to masses of people that power under capitalism comes at the point of exploitation."
However, Riley says there is an appetite across the United States for drastic change — he holds up as examples the surge of activist movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, as well as strikes around the United States.
For Riley, the Sanders campaign, with its focus on class issues and broad support, is the vessel to make society more fair: "What I am endorsing is the movement that has grown around him that involves millions of people who are willing to consciously and openly engage in class struggle in order to make these reforms happen."
Read Boots Riley's entire Twitter thread below: