WASHINGTON – On Sunday afternoon, Gurinder Carr’s cell phone started ringing, and it didn’t stop.. Message after message arrived informing me that Kamala Harris was increasingly likely to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
Carr, who co-founded a group that supports black women candidates, wasn’t surprised that people reached out after hearing the news.
But when she signed on to a Zoom call that night to voice her support for Harris, she was thrilled to discover that there were tens of thousands of other Black women there who were just as inspired as she was.
More than 44,000 people, mostly women, joined the video call on Sunday, which continued past midnight and raised more than $1.5 million for Harris’ campaign, according to organizers.. Some have vowed to sign up to work in their communities and step up voter outreach efforts following President Joe Biden’s decision to forgo reelection and endorse Harris.
But they are also preparing for attacks on the vice president, who will make history as the first woman of color to run for a major party nomination.
“We celebrated (last night),” Carr said Monday, “but today we’re going to protect, we’re going to defend, we’re going to fight, we’re going to organize, we’re going to mobilize.”
By Monday afternoon, several social media sites were already abuzz with criticism of Harris’ policies, intellect, humor and accomplishments.
Carr and others believe it was intentional when several speakers at the Republican National Convention earlier this month mispronounced Harris’ name. “There was an implicit meaning behind it,” Carr said.
Freda Player, a metro Nashville school board member and Tennessee Democratic delegate, expects Harris to face a barrage of criticism and skepticism because of her race and gender.
“It’s going to be a hard road, especially in this country,” Player said, “but we can speak to our conscience and show the world that this is what democracy looks like.”
The audacity of hope
Still, Ms. Harris’ candidacy appears to have inspired hope not seen since Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, activists said.. Obama was the United States’ first African-American president, and the 2008 presidential election saw record turnout among black voters in many areas.
Sen. London Lamar of Tennessee choked up on Monday as she spoke about her own political journey and the impact Harris’ nomination and a possible presidency could have on other young Black women.
Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Lamar recalled how he felt when he saw President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama take the stage after Obama’s nomination.
“I never thought it was possible for an African-American girl to pursue a career in politics until I saw them on stage,” Lamar said.
She is currently the youngest senator in the Tennessee Senate, the youngest Black senator, and last year became the youngest senator in state history to give birth while in office.
“When I see Kamala on stage, I want to root for her because I hope that other young women, whether they’re Black or women who care about this country, feel the same way I did in 2008,” Lamar said.
Black women activists and advocates say Harris’ candidacy has energized the Democratic Party, especially younger voters..
“There’s a new energy,” said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, a national voting campaign. “I think she brings a new level of hope.”
“I haven’t seen this much excitement since President Obama.”
Melanie Campbell, president of the Power of the Ballot Action Fund, called the campaign a groundbreaking moment.
Campbell believes Harris’ candidacy could boost voter turnout among black people, particularly women, and could garner support beyond the fact that she is a woman of color. The US has had a black president but no woman, he said.
“There’s an opportunity for a woman to become president,” she said. “This is a big deal. This is uncharted territory.”
Black women have been at this for a long time.
For years, organizations led by black women have stepped up get-out-the-vote campaigns and built infrastructure to support black women candidates.
In 2017, Doug Jones won a major upset victory in Alabama with the help of black women voters, becoming the state’s first Democratic senator in 25 years.
“The magic of Black women’s organizing is that it happens organically,” Carr said, referring to the Zoom call Sunday, “and that’s what you saw last night.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, Democrat from Ohio and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was one of the guest speakers on the call and is a regular on calls hosted by #WinWithBlackWomen., She is bringing together a cross-generational and multi-disciplinary group of black women leaders in what she calls a “Truth to Power Conversation.”
Attendance is usually in the hundreds, but she said Sunday’s turnout was surprising.
“I know that not only is this a valid moment in history, but that people were here to learn what role they could play,” Beatty told USA Today. “It was a good sign. It showed that women make up over 50 percent of the voters. Black women have definitely led the way. And it also showed that we’re ready because the time is now and we have the evidence to prove it.”
The informal conference call included Beatty, along with representatives of national civic engagement organizations, faith leaders, members of Congress and prominent community activists.
Carr’s organization, Higher Heights of America, which supports black women candidates and black political participation, hosted its own conference call Monday night.
Another call, this time aimed at black men, was made Monday night.. “As a Black man, I’d never received a call like this before, and yet they organized it within 24 hours,” said Stephanie Brown James, founder and senior adviser to Collective PAC, which aims to build Black political power. “It just shows that people are ready.”
Black sororities and fraternities have also pledged their support: Harris is scheduled to speak Wednesday in Indianapolis at a conference of the black sorority Zeta Phi Beta, one of the elite black Greek organizations.
Beatty said people want to engage with and support Harris not just because she’s a Black woman, but because she’s a Black woman who has the experience, skills and knowledge to be a great president.
“She has combat experience so everyone is paying attention to her.”
Hesitation and fear of backlash
But not everyone is optimistic about Harris’ candidacy.
Oneika Tinsley of Pleasant Hill, California, said she plans to vote for Harris out of disgust. A mother of five, Tinsley believes the Biden-Harris administration isn’t doing enough to improve the economy.
“Harris is a beautiful woman with a lot of style and taste, and I know everyone is on her side, but what about a mother who already knows she can’t afford to send her youngest daughter to college? When will she ever talk to me or people like me?”
Tinsley said Harris has played too safe on a number of issues over the past four years.
“I’m not voting for Kamala because she’s a Black woman like me,” said Tinsley, a Democrat. “I’m voting for Kamala because she’s the lesser of two evils.”
Some black women worry that they may not be the best candidate to challenge Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has a long history of politically incorrect and racist stances.
“I personally would like to see a black woman president in my lifetime, but I don’t think we need a woman of color running against Trump,” said Olivia Jones, 22, a senior at Central Michigan University from Lansing, Michigan. “It’s dangerous territory. I would definitely support her, but it’s not a smart choice. This is a very important election. Now is not the time to take chances.”
Women’s activists said that while racist and sexist attacks are not new, they were alarmed that they had been so blatant in the first 24 hours of Ms Harris’ candidacy.
Trump himself posted on his social media site, Truth Social, on Monday afternoon and evening, calling Harris a terrible vice president, incompetent, a liar, stupid and far behind him in the polls, which the latest polls show is not accurate.
Carr said Black women expect President Trump and his fellow Republican leaders to aggressively attack Harris on social media and in ad campaigns.
“We expect that not only will he go after her, but that it will be rooted in misinformation, disinformation and negativity,” Carr said.
They plan to counter President Trump’s attacks with an information campaign about Harris and her record, including on social media.
Black women “stand up to unjust attacks,” Campbell said.
Ange Marie Hancock, director of Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute and curator of the Kamala Harris Project, a national coalition of scholars who study the vice presidency, said Harris’ historic challenge will be a daunting one.
“This will remain a test for the country,” Hancock said. “She’s been in office for almost four years and is clearly competent, but women officeholders are less popular when they are running for office than when they are in office.”
Her campaign will also have to consider how to counter attacks against her as a woman of color.
“They can’t act like it doesn’t exist,” Hancock said.
With less than four months to go, some activists are stepping up their outreach efforts and vowing to share information about Harris’ policies and plans.
Player, Nashville School Committee memberr Executive director of Emerge Tennessee, which helps recruit and train women Democratic candidates for office., He said Harris’ nomination was a “vindication” for black women who “have been pillars of the Democratic Party for decades.”
“It’s refreshing. It’s inspiring. I’m thrilled that we’re finally getting a fair shot,” she said. “I think her nomination will inspire a lot of women of color: that we won’t be overlooked, that we won’t be invisible, that our support won’t be taken for granted or wasted.”
Contributors: Trevor Hughes and Rebecca Morin
