In the wake of President Joe Biden’s decision to suspend his 2024 presidential campaign, a coalition of black women leaders and their allies has swiftly mobilized to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s bid for the Democratic nomination. Within hours, a black women’s advocacy group raised $1.5 million in Harris’s favor, and thousands of black women joined a Zoom call to strategize on how to back her campaign.
The meeting, organized by Jotaka Eaddy, featured top black leaders, including Rep. Joyce Beatty, Rep. Maxine Waters, Donna Brazile, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and Melanie Campbell. Attendees were encouraged to share a graphic showing their support for Harris on social media. The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, to which Harris belongs, also began organizing on her behalf.
As Harris’s campaign gained momentum, Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, endorsed her, stating, “Vice President Kamala Harris is a tenacious fighter, a champion for our rights, and a defender of our democracy.” Abrams urged supporters to back Harris in her bid for the presidency.
Harris, who would be the nation’s second black president if elected, must now secure the Democratic nomination ahead of the party’s national convention in Chicago next month. The Democratic National Committee’s rules committee will meet to discuss the nomination process, which will be “open, transparent, fair, and orderly.”
While Harris is likely to retain the support of black women, a crucial voting bloc for the Democrats, she will need to work harder to win over black men, who are being targeted by Trump’s campaign. Several prominent black Republican leaders, including Sen. Tim Scott, Rep. Wesley Hunt, and Rep. Byron Donalds, have hosted events targeting black men, upset at Biden’s handling of the economy.
Despite these challenges, black women leaders remain united behind Harris, with Brazile stating, “I am confident that she will have the delegates, she will have the resources, and she will have the volunteers.” With the November election looming, Harris faces a tough battle against Trump, who has accepted the Republican nomination and is brandishing Harris as a “radical.”
