Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic campaign for the White House has energized area Black women and young voters in the last week.
Harris secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press. The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22, but it’s likely Harris will be named the nominee in a virtual roll call on Aug. 7.
Since Harris announced her campaign for president, she’s gathered endorsements from former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others.
Another source of support for Harris comes from her connection with historically Black sororities, said State Rep. Carolyn Jackson and former Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.
Harris, a woman of Black and South Asian descent, is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, one of the Divine Nine, which are four sororities and five fraternities for Black members with a history dating back to the early 1900s.
Harris told members of Zeta Phi Beta, one of the sororities of the Divine Nine, on Wednesday in Indianapolis that “we are not playing around” and asked for their help in electing her president in November.
“In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation, one focused on the future and the other focused on the past,” Harris said in the speech. “And with your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”
Voters in Indiana haven’t backed a Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 16 years. But Harris was speaking to a group already excited by her historic status as the likely Democratic nominee and one that her campaign hopes can expand its coalition.
Harris thanked the room full of women for their work electing her vice president and Joe Biden president. “And now, in this moment, our nation needs your leadership once again,” she said.
“We are all deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation,” Harris said of Biden, who announced Sunday he would not seek reelection. Harris then turned to contrast the administration’s agenda with that of Trump’s.
“These extremists want to take us back, but we are not going back,” she said. “All across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights.”
She cited the freedom to vote, to be safe from gun violence, to love whom you want to love openly, to “learn and acknowledge our true and full history,” and the freedom “of a woman to make decisions about her body and not have her government telling her what to do.”
Jackson, who is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, said she attended an event on July 10 in Dallas, Texas, where Harris also gave a speech. Jackson said Harris talked about the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, as well as the importance to continue improving education, fighting abortion bans, and lowering the rate of maternal and infant mortality.
“She was very encouraging,” Jackson said. “(Her speech) was direct, and it was to the point.”
Jackson recalled July 2022 when Harris flew to Indianapolis to talk to the legislature as it held a special session to pass a near-total ban on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Jackson said when she and other legislators met with Harris that day, Harris was knowledgeable and a good listener.
“She thinks very quick on her feet,” Jackson said. “I think that is something that we need.”
Freeman-Wilson and Jackson both praised Biden for his courage to put his country first, but for also immediately endorsing Harris as the party’s nominee. When Harris announced her candidacy, Freeman-Wilson said she was excited.
“I understand how historic it is, but also a sense that she is so capable and so smart, and all of the things that we need and would be well placed to have in a president – not just a candidate, but a president,” Freeman-Wilson said.
Freeman-Wilson said she was on a call on July 21 with 44,000 Black women from across the country. Freeman-Wilson, a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, said members from each of the sororities in the Divine Nine were on the call.
“As proud as we are of our individual affiliations, we talked about how hard we were going to work across those affiliations to support Vice President Harris,” Freeman-Wilson said.
The call was electric, Freeman-Wilson said, and though it went late into the night she didn’t want to hang up.
“Folks were just really excited about the prospect of working hard,” Freeman-Wilson said. “I’ve never seen so many people who were as committed to saying ‘OK, it’s time to get to work.’”
Harris is extremely smart, a good listener, and personable, which are important qualities to have in a president, Freeman-Wilson said. Harris is also poised to defeat Trump, Freeman-Wilson said.
“Who better to take down a criminal than a prosecutor?” Freeman-Wilson said, referring to Trump being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
“We have a lot at stake in this election. It is very frightening and unnerving, and at the same time you need someone who can stand up to his bluster and just be in a position to know better and to call out the nation to do better,” Freeman-Wilson said.
Former Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson speaks during an unveiling ceremony for her mayoral portrait on Friday, February 19, 2021. (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)
If Harris is elected in November, her presidency would bring about a sense of pride and provide a beacon of hope to those in underrepresented and underserved communities, Freeman-Wilson said.
“I was a bit doubtful that I would ever see it in my lifetime because there’s been so much backlash since the Obama presidency. So now to see it as just a possibility is significant,” Freeman-Wilson said.
Reon Wilson, 22, a senior at Indiana University Northwest and social media manager of the Black Student Union, said this will be the second presidential election where he can cast a ballot.
The issues he’s most focused on are education and foreign affairs. Wilson said he’s still researching where Harris and Trump stand on those and other issues.
Wilson said he heard and read online a lot of mixed emotions about Harris running for president. But he said her candidacy will likely “open the eyes of a lot of people” because it presents voters with another option.
Harris will likely garner support from young, women and minority voters, Wilson said.
“I think she comes in prepared for this,” Wilson said. “I think that she is going to be that candidate to do the job of running against Trump.”
Anthony Hudson, 22, a senior at Indiana University Northwest and president of the Black Student Union, said this will be the second presidential election where he can cast a ballot.
As he considers the issues most important to him, protecting public education and abortion access, Hudson said he plans to vote for Harris. Hudson said he’s excited about Harris’ campaign because it’s “a breath of fresh air” for the Democratic Party.
“As a Black person, seeing representation in the office will always, always be beneficial, will always be exciting to see,” Hudson said. “We don’t get this chance too often.”
akukulka@post-trib.com
