Some 15,000 supporters at a rally in Atlanta Tuesday night roared their approval as Vice President Kamala Harris challenged presidential rival Donald Trump to debate and chided him for slinging insults like, “Lyin’ Kamala.” Said Harris, “If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.”
“Kamala knows how to push back in a classy way,” said New Jersey activist Jeannine LaRue, who said the Harris candidacy has generated a blaze of energy and a determination to get out the vote and elect a woman of color to the Oval Office. LaRue said that’s something she’s dreamed of since her largely segregated childhood.
“Down in the southern part of state, Salem County, Black people, we couldn’t even watch the movie downstairs in the air-conditioned part. We had to go upstairs in the balcony in a broken-down area.”
“I’ve never, at 74 years old, I have never seen anything like this,” said LaRue, who is planning several fundraisers. “And in the last eight to ten days, it’s coming to fruition with white women for Kamala, Black women, Latina, Asian, white dudes for Kamala. I am so excited … People say, ‘Oh, this is almost like Obama.’ No. This is Obama on steroids.”
“I’ve been waking up for the past few mornings on fire, excited, ready to mobilize, ready to organize,” said Shennell McCloud, CEO of Project Ready, a community engagement organization. McCloud, who plans to rally at least 50,000 voters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said it’s not just about shattering the glass ceiling, it’s also about issues.
“I believe Black women want to see the wealth gap closed. That’s first and foremost,” she said. “We want the opportunity to be able to rise to the occasion and provide for our families accordingly. The second thing is we want to see quality education.”
“Once we elevate Kamala Harris to the presidency of this United States, it’s going be a completely different country in regard to allowing all of us now to move forward,” said Rachel Green, an official Harris delegate, who will attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.
Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-Passaic) said, “We’ve been waiting for that moment to say, how can we help on a greater scale? … And this is that moment.”
Sumter, who chairs New Jersey’s Legislative Black Caucus, said Harris supporters do expect the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee to face serious questions over her stance on immigration and the southern border, the war in Gaza and her record as California’s attorney general.
While the Black community, for the most part wholeheartedly supports Harris, activist Racquel Romans-Henry warned, “I think it would be a mistake for the Democratic Party to assume that Black women or Black people have written this candidacy a blank check.”
