Tell me about your journey.

"Being the oldest of seven children and having a mother who had to raise all of us on her own for most of her life. My parents got married very young, but they divorced early. My mother died at the age of 42. As Langston Hughes describes it, 'What happens to a dream deferred?' I was 22 years old and my baby sister was 12. My mother had an aneurysm, had a burst in her brain, went into a coma and died. My mother died on the system of welfare. She didn't even have a life insurance policy.

"I started having a flashback [to that time when] I thought about the types of policies Sen. Sanders is fighting for. The impact that would have had on my mother and our quality of life. As a first generation college graduate, [it resonates with me] when he stands up and says, 'It’s not a radical idea that no child in this country should have to be saddled by debt when they walk across the stage with their degrees,' and that he wants public education to be free.

"The most important moment for me — in terms of how that cycle of poverty can be broken — was when my son walked across the stage after earning his degree. I started thinking about my sisters and brothers who suffered, not because my mother didn’t try; but because everyone doesn't run the race at the same pace in this country. We don’t mind having a safety net for the wealthy, but we frown upon having a safety net for poor folks. So when I juxtaposed my journey [with what other people have gone through], there was no doubt in my mind that the person I should be supporting to become the next President of the United States of America is Sen. Bernie Sanders."

What must Sen. Sanders do to get more Black support? As you know very well, he trails Hillary Clinton with those voters.

"There is no doubt he has more ground to cover. He has to introduce himself to people, particularly people of color. And to break that down even more, the African-American community. But he is talking to the African-American community like he would to any other constituency he is trying to win over. One thing I can say about Sen. Sanders is that he has not and will not take the African-American vote for granted. He is under no illusion. He knows he has to work hard to earn the vote. That’s what’s important to me and it should be important to other African-Americans.

"We as an ethnic group should never allow ourselves to have our vote taken for granted by anybody. We don’t owe anybody anything. As the voters, we need the politicians to prove to us why we should hire them. What has really gotten to me, not only as a public servant but also as a college professor of African-American history, is that we have pundits and talking heads assuming — and I understand why they are assuming — that Black folks are going to vote one way. No ethnic group should ever want their vote to be taken for granted, but we’re the only ethnic group people are already predicting where we are going and that is not good for us as a people. No one owns our vote. They should earn our vote."