2018 Medicare for All Rally feat. Nina Turner and Bernie Sanders - Koger Center for the Arts, Columbia, SC

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Koger Center for the Arts is an arts center on the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia, SC. It was built in 1988 and has over 2,000 seats. The center is home to the Columbia City Ballet, the South Carolina Philharmonic, and is also used for other functions such as the State of the State Address, the university's doctoral hooding ceremonies, rallies, and other events. At a “Medicare for All” Rally at the Koger Center on October 20, 2018, Nina Turner, former Ohio State Senator and frequent Sanders campaign surrogate, appeared with Senator Bernie Sanders ahead of the November 2018 mid-term elections. South Carolina would later become a major turning point in the 2020 Democratic primaries.

Images

October 20, 2018: Nina Turner joins Bernie Sanders and notable South Carolina progressives in hosting a health care rally organized by political organization "Our Revolution" at the Koger Center in downtown Columbia.

Senators Bernie Sanders and Nina Turner join notable South Carolina progressives at a Medicare for All rally at the Koger Center in downtown Columbia, SC

Bernie Sanders speaks in Columbia, SC at the Koger Center during a Medicare for All rally on October 20, 2018

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The independent U.S. senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, joined forces with former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner and local South Carolina progressives at an Oct. 20th rally in Columbia, SC for a “Medicare for All” rally in 2018 ahead of the highly anticipated mid-term elections in November 2018. The rally, held at the Koger Center in Columbia, featured South Carolina State Representative Justin Bamberg and the leader of Indivisible Midlands, who, among others, discussed the healthcare and the need for “Medicare for All” to help Americans have access to universal healthcare coverage.

The two-hour event began at noon, according to an announcement from Our Revolution South Carolina, a group that grew out of Sanders’s unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016. Our Revolution South Carolina was instrumental in the organization of the rally. Nina Turner introduced Bernie Sanders at the rally with her signature call-and-response style and her popular catchphrase, “Hello, somebody!” Sanders would later make a second presidential run in 2020 with Nina Turner as his campaign’s co-chair. Nina Turner is a candidate for Ohio’s 11th House District, where she is in a special August 3, 2021 election to fill the vacant seat of Rep. Marcia Fudge. Fudge vacated the seat in March 2021 and is now the Housing Secretary in the Biden Administration.

Sources

Johnson, Jenna. “‘THE. Nina. Turner.’ Bernie Sanders’s Most Visible and Passionate Surrogate Is Helping Him Connect with Black Voters.” Washington Post. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-nina-turner-bernie-sanderss-most-visible-and-passionate-surrogate-is-helping-him-connect-with-Black-voters/2020/02/28/21a5abb2-597c-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html.

McDonnell, Sean, and Doug Livingston. “Candidates Line up for Fudge’s Former Seat in Ohio’s 11th District.” Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/12/candidates-line-up-fudge-former-seat-ohios-11-th-district-cleveland-akron-summit-democrat-republican/4645176001/.

Orfalea, Matt. Nina Turner: Bernie Sanders Is a Champion for Civil Rights, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUZCbYtP3DU.

Our Revolution. Medicare for All Rally Feat. Nina Turner and Bernie Sanders - Columbia, SC, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1eP7Zf9FXU.

Tracy, Abigail. “‘The Black Caucus Unified With the Progressive Caucus? Watch Out, Baby’: Nina Turner, Progressive Disciple, Could Make Waves in Biden’s Congress.” Vanity Fair. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/nina-turner-congress.

“Why Was Bernie Sanders in Columbia, SC, Ahead of Election? | The State.” Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article220195345.html.

wkyc.com. “Meet the Candidates: 3News’ Russ Mitchell Talks with Nina Turner, Seeking to Represent Ohio’s 11th Congressional District.” Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/politics/elections/candidates/meet-candidates-russ-mitchell-nina-turner-represent-ohio-11th-congressional-district/95-f129431d-ac78-4c8c-8b3e-a48a3bf7cc63.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Crush Rush / Alamy Stock Photo