Transcript and Video of Bernie Sanders Talk at University of Chicago

line wrapped around the block waiting to get in to hear Bernie Sanders speak
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Bernie Sanders is an University of Chicago Alumnus. Perhaps that's why he went with a smaller venue which only held 1700-- the Rockefeller Chapel-- an extraordinarily beautiful edifice, over 100 years old-- also, the biggest indoor venue at the U of C. And the attendees were about 95% students.

I was sat in the media row, right behind the network cameras. The journalist sitting next to me was a writer for Montreal's La Presse. I asked him what Canadians think of Sanders. "He's nothing special. He advocates for single payer health care. We've had that for years. He's not unusual," he replied.

I asked a freshman sitting behind me what she thought of Bernie. She replied that she was checking him out to see whether he would be viable as a candidate. I pointed out that he's not really a Democrat, that he'd run as an independent and had won 70% of the votes in Vermont. This was news to her.

David Axelrod introduced Bernie, making clear that this was a non-partisan event, that all candidates had been invited.

Bernie arrived to a standing ovation.

Bernie Sanders arrives to rousing cheers #iopsanders #FeelTheBern http://t.co/ELjOTh8Q1I at http://t.co/ELjOTh8Q1I

— rob kall (@robkall) September 28, 2015

Here are my notes and extensive transcription of Bernie's remarks. The full video of his talk is at the end.

Bernie started out reminiscing about being a student.

"I learned a lot from off-campus activities-- from folks who spent decades in the civil rights movement, the peace movement, the trade union movement.

I learned here about Democratic socialism" meeting people who had spent their lives dedicate their lives to the fight for social justice, to making the world better for their kids.

What I learned then, and what I believe today, and it is the kernel of my political views, is that Change never takes place from the top down. it always takes place from the bottom on up.

(applause)

Here are some excerpts:

It takes place when people, by the millions, sometimes over decades and sometimes over centuries, determine that the status quo-- the world that they see in front of them-- is not the world that should be. And they come together and sometimes they get arrested and sometimes they are on a picket-line and sometimes they die in the struggle. And what human history is about is passing that torch on from generation to generation to generation-- of young people who pick up the torch that may have begun hundreds or literally thousands of years ago. And young people stand in front of the world today and say this is not the world I am comfortable with. This is the world we are going to change.

In the midst of very, very difficult times for our country I also want you to understand that some very, very positive good things have happened in this country in the last number of decades because people all over this country, at the grass roots level stood up and fought back"

It is not just the fight for racial justice, that continues.

The fight for women's rights continues today.

The fact that we have broken down barriers all over this country so that women can do the work that they want to do-- is huge progress over the past 40 years.

Refers to success in struggle for gay rights.

"WE have made America a much less discriminatory society."

Another example of a struggle that is taking place today.

While we have made significant progress forward in making our country a less discriminatory society. There are major, major, major issues that confront us today. We need your help.