Kamala Harris and the Legacy of Black Women's Leadership
(a somewhat lengthy, very important read)
Kamala Harris and the Legacy of Black Women’s Leadership
PUBLISHED 7/25/2024 by Janell Hobson
“You have a right to vote, but you also have a right to leadership after that vote,” said feminist scholar Carole Boyce Davies of Harris’ ascension to the top of the ticket. “We have to be ready to see the new reality, and then to move with it.”
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for an event honoring National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship teams from the 2023-2024 season, on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)
Within hours of the stunning decision by President Joe Biden to end his re-election campaign—and to follow this announcement with his subsequent endorsement of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, as his successor—the organization #WinWithBlackWomen stepped into action. After the group circulated a Zoom call, approximately 44,000 Black women gathered and raised over $1 million in three hours. Their counterpart, #WinWithBlackMen, followed suit, and the next night, a gathering of over 45,000 Black men matched these funds. The vice president now has one of the largest and fastest fundraising donations for a presidential candidate. Now, other groups are creating similar calls: “Latinas for Harris,” “South Asian Women for Harris” and “White Women for Harris.”
Such actions demonstrate how Black women’s leadership is unmatched. They were more than ready for this moment, as is the woman they have rallied around this election season. Vice President Harris has already shattered barriers as the first Black woman attorney general of the state of California, the second Black woman U.S. senator and the first woman and African American vice president of the United States. Her progressive politics—which includes co-authoring legislation such as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and championing reproductive rights and maternal health in her role as vice president—also offer us a glimpse into what her presidency might highlight around racial justice and women’s rights issues.
She is ready. We are ready. The world is ready. After all, Black women have a long history of effective leadership.
Carole Boyce Davies was the Frank H. T. Rhodes professor of humane letters and professor of Africana studies and literatures in English at Cornell University before becoming Chair of the English Department at Howard University.
Ms. contributing editor Janell Hobson spoke with Black feminist scholar Carole Boyce Davies, who has authored several books on Black women’s politics, most recently Black Women’s Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power, which explores Black women’s roles as transformational leaders in the highest political positions and on the grassroots community levels. Feeling the optimism of the moment and the energy of a fired-up political base, this conversation reflects on the legacy, meanings and promises of Kamala Harris’ presidential run.
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Black Women’s Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power presents Black women as alternative and transformative leaders in the highest political positions and at grassroots community levels.
U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn announces her entry for Democratic nomination for the presidency, at the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, on Jan. 25, 1972. (Don Hogan Charles / New York Times Co. / Getty Images)
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Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados at the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies and USA 2024 final match between South Africa and India on June 29, 2024, in Bridgetown, Barbados. (Gareth Copley / Getty Images)
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Hobson: And “lifting as we climb,” to invoke Black club women.
Boyce Davies: We are crossing all the boundaries. This is a good moment, and I’m happy to be in it
https://msmagazine.com/2024/07/25/kamala-harris-black-women-politics-history/