Kamala Harris is a strong candidate, but we still need to help her stand tall

Kamala Harris’s life as vice president took a 180-degree turn in 24 hours: She went from stumping for President Joe Biden in Provincetown, an LGBTQ+ culture hub and haven, on Saturday, July 20 to becoming a potential presidential nominee on Sunday, July 21,  when the news broke of Biden leaving the race. 

The crowd at the Biden Victory Fund event at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum last Saturday showed their enthusiasm about a possible November win for the Biden-Harris ticket. As the keynote speaker, Harris was wildly welcomed to P-town with placards that read “VP-Town!” The entire Biden team at the event was on message — however, most attendees hoped Biden would exit the race.

Related:

The Democrats are quickly unifying behind Kamala Harris as their presidential choice

Democrats are quickly shaking off the paralysis of Biden’s failing campaign and getting excited about his VP’s chances.

So when the news hit that Harris was now a potential presidential nominee for the head of the ticket, enthusiasm swelled. Both the Black and Asian American Caucuses immediately endorsed her. Within 30 minutes of her announcement, One Silicon Valley,  a software engineering consulting firm, raised more than $1 million for her candidacy.

Dive deeper every day

Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues

Daily

Weekly

Good News

Hours later, a national Zoom call from the D.C.-based Black women’s organization #WinWithBlackWomen — a national intergenerational and intersectional sisterhood of black diasporic women who leverage talent, influence, and networks to support Black women — had over 40,000 sistahs in attendance. In three hours, these women raised over $1 million to support Harris, which TV personality Star Jones, the campaign chair, spearheaded. 

It’s not easy being one of the first Black women running for president

When I heard the news of Harris running for president, I immediately thought about how my deceased Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm would be proud of this moment. Chisholm was the first African American woman to campaign for the presidential nomination in 1972 on the Democratic ticket. A woman of temerity and integrity, her slogan was “Unbought and Unbossed.”  Confronted with racist and sexist opposition, Chisholm lost the nomination. In 2024, similar concerns arise for Harris, too. 

When news broke that Kamala was in the race for the White House, Black Twitter was abuzz with exuberance and trepidation.” Much of Black Twitter is on board with Kamala as a candidate, but unsure if America feels the same way, the Black media outlet The Root reported. 

“Okay, so now it’s Kamala. Every white person who wanted him to drop out needs to figure out how to defend a Black woman in person and online for the first time in their lives. That’s the job now. I’d like to see it, but I never have,” comedian and podcaster Akilah Hughes wrote on Twitter. 

Okay so now it’s Kamala. I think—AGAIN—every white person who wanted him to drop out needs to figure out how to defend a Black woman in person and online for the first time in their lives. That’s the job now. I’d like to see it, but I never have. https://t.co/CMukwoDb2X

— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) July 21, 2024

Prominent Democratic donor John Morgan of Florida emphatically stated he would not fundraise for Harris. “She would not be my first choice,” Morgan said in The Hill. “The donors holding the 90 million can release those funds in the morning. It’s all yours. You can keep my million. And good luck,” he continued.

Striking the right balance with white Americans is difficult — for both Republican and Democrat politicians — in this polarized era, especially for a woman of color in power who identifies as black. The “angry black woman” trope hovers over all sisters of African descent. Harris is attacked for her laugh. She runs the risk of being perceived as too loud, too forceful, not knowing her place, not staying in her lane, and being arrogant, albeit she is the vice president.

Must Harris struggle to avoid the misogynoir trope when asserting her power and authority? She mustn’t fear being perceived as unqualified, tokenized, or a DEI hire. Research shows that Harris is one of the most targeted politicians on the Internet, and FOX News runs a constant thread of bogus articles about her. 

The public thinks Harris’s job performance has been shaky

Harris struggled to carve out a lane for herself in her early years, feeling the weight of being the first Black and Asian American VP. With a job performance approval rating no higher than 39% from multiple polls, she’ll have to convince the American public about giving her a presidential term.

Republicans have made Harris the face of Biden’s unfavorable immigration policy — one of the Democrats’ weakest issues — to win political ground in this election. The intersectionality of her race and gender was weaponized to discredit her ability. However, it was unsurprising to women and people of color that Harris was appointed to fix an immigration mess that previous administrations couldn’t resolve, essentially setting her up to fail.

I’m with her! Are you?

During her past presidential campaign and vice presidency, Harris’s blunders were magnified and her victories muted.  But Harris has accomplished a lot since taking office.

Alongside Biden, Harris helped America get vaccinated, rebuilt the economy after the height of the COVID pandemic, led Congress to protect voter’s rights by building a broad and diverse coalition, expanded workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain, and led on women’s issues of reproductive justice since the overturn of Roe v Wade, as well as on maternal health and child poverty.

In her first public speech since announcing her new run for president, Harris said, “Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. We here know when our middle class is strong, America is strong.”

In one day, Harris garnered more than half the delegates needed to win the nomination. She has reenergized the base and injected hope, focusing on working folks like me.

I can’t wait to support her during the election, and I hope you will too.

Don't forget to share: