Kamala Harris Shares Her Gratitude For Black Women’s Support During The Election

Since Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his vice-presidential candidate, numerous people via social media have played political commentator, dissecting what this move would mean for Biden’s chances to win the presidency.

Among those voices have been Black women who have thrown significant support toward Harris, fully aware of the weight a Black, HBCU-educated, woman as the vice president of the United States will hold on a generation of Black girls.

In an essay Harris wrote for Essence that posted yesterday, she thanked Black women for their support during the campaign.

“We’re grateful that Black women across the country have had our backs,” she wrote. “Black women hold the power in this election. So we need to talk to everybody in our lives, including young people, to encourage them to vote. We need to get our families, our neighbors, our whole villages to the polls.”

Black women have mobilized to create numerous ways to support Harris. This includes her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, donating increments of $19.08 to her presidential campaign. The contributions sharply increased when the news broke that she would be Biden’s running mate.

In the essay, Harris also stressed the importance of voting in a historic election with a lot at stake in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We cannot afford four more years of Donald Trump. We must elect Joe Biden,” she wrote.

“Joe and I have a plan to contain this virus with a national strategy that includes masks, widespread free testing, contact tracing, and a free and safe vaccine,” she explained. “We’ll make sure our frontline workers, many of whom are Black, have the personal protective equipment and support they need. We will provide schools and businesses with clear, evidence-based guidelines to reopen safely—and the resources to do so.”