By Jasmine Cen

More than 1,000 people shouted “we are the 99 percent” as they marched on LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago Saturday to endorse presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

“Feel the bern,” the excited participants chanted, along with other slogans.

March for Bernie is a movement that spread across the nation via Facebook. Many organizers of these events are activist groups located in different cities.

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“The march idea popped up on Facebook, and we said ‘wow’ that will be a really good action for the type of politics we want to do,” said Nick Wozniak, a Chicago activist and one of the organizers of the march.

After the event posted, more than 1,000 people signed up to attend within a week.

The participants came to support Sanders but many of them also spoke out for other causes such as immigration reform, eliminating police brutality and funding Chicago schools.

“I thought it was inspiring to see so many people come together talking about real issues, like immigration reform and campaign finance reform, especially,” said Daniel Schmidt, an environmental activist.

At the beginning of the march, the organizers brought in several speakers to talk about real issues including police brutality, immigration, and corporate America.

Schmidt said he believes Sanders will stand up to the misinformation  and will support renewable energy to stop global warming.

George Lenze, a college student at DePaul University, shared her passion about minimizing the wage gap, LGBTQ rights, and  minority discrimination.

The peaceful march lasted about two hours and ended at the Chicago Board of Trade. New York City’s march is scheduled for this weekend.

Photo on top: Lots of kids joined the march and listened to speeches in Daley Plaza before it began. (By Jasmine Cen/ Medill)