On a Saturday afternoon in 2016, ten days before the New York State primary, a few labor and immigration activists spoke at a rally for Bernie Sanders in front of the United Palace at 175 and Broadway, a landmarked theater where the evangelist Reverend Ike once preached. About twenty-five Bernie enthusiasts showed up. After a few speeches, a couple of campaign operatives invited us to download a voting app that showed the addresses of registered Democrats in northern Manhattan. We divided into teams, and began canvassing the Washington Heights neighborhood.

One week after the rally in front of the United Palace, Sanders held a campaign event inside the ornate theater. By then a group of organizers had emerged organically, beyond the purview of the campaign office in Harlem. We called ourselves “Uptown for Bernie.” Some of us were younger and some were older. A few were seasoned political campaigners. But most had never worked for a campaign or voted for a candidate (as opposed to against someone). A handful had never even voted before. There were women and men, Catholics and Jews, LGBTQ people and straight people. Some of us were working class, many were students. There were musicians and writers and a few young professionals; and even two Dreamers brought to the United States as babies that were still barred from voting.

Washington Heights is the Dominican capital of the United States: the largest cohort of Dominicans outside of the Caribbean live in less than three square miles in Northern Manhattan. There were a few Dominicans among us, including an older woman named Georgina, whose apartment on 180 Street became our unofficial campaign headquarters. We squeezed into her small living room for daily strategizing sessions. It was at Georgina’s that you went to drop off or pick up campaign literature, rest for a few minutes, or just kibitz — almost 24/7.