In tandem with celebrations of the 19th Amendment, Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention sought out to honor another historic moment: Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., accepted the party’s nomination for vice president—making her the first Black woman and first Asian-American to be nominated for national office by a major political party.
Themed “A More Perfect Union,” the Democratic National Convention convened virtually, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the typically in-person meeting to transition to a largely virtual format just as it has changed the nature of daily life across the world.
Despite the appearances of an impressive cast of Democratic characters ranging from the nation’s first Black president, Barack H. Obama to former Vice President Joe Biden, who is also the presidential hopeful, the stars of the night were its featured women.
Mothers of children who suffered gun violence. Children who themselves suffered gun violence. Parkland leader Gonzalez. Women immigrants. Women who went from survivor to activists. They were all there.
A French horn sounded as the camera panned to former Rep. Gabby Giffords, whose striking, labored strides are as much of a reminder of the 2011 mass shooting that almost took her life as was her struggle to speak. She has not, however, lost her voice even though she worked hard to relearn the instrument she first mastered as a child.
Dressed majestically in cream, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton reminded us why she made history. Invoking Congressman John Lewis and reminding us of the humanity of Harris who sat bedside with her late press secretary as he fought and died of cancer, Clinton quoted Ernest Hemingway, “The world breaks everyone—and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.”
“Our diversity is our strength and unity is our power,” said House Speaker Nanci Pelosi.
From Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall, “when women succeed, we all succeed,” continued Pelosi.
And the success of women presenters was, in large part, due to other women.
Women like “Aunt Bee,” the aunt of Sen. Elizabeth Warren who, for 16 years, with the family of her young working mother niece to help take care of her kids while the latter pursued her career.
“Nobody succeeds on their own,” said Warren, who snuck into the frame the letters “B L M,” in the cubby hole background of the early childhood classroom from which she addressed the nation.
Courtesy of her sister Maya Harris, niece Meena Harris and stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, Harris’ nomination speech lauded her as the “world’s greatest stepmom” and a “fierce, formidable, phenomenal woman.”
Harris, born in Oakland, the daughter of immigrants, a historically black college graduate of Howard University, Divine Nine member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., said, “the litmus test for America is how we are treating black women.”
Dressed in wine, and flanked by six flags, she centered Black women in the earliest minutes of her remarks. On the heels of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the amendment affording women the right to vote, Harris ought not just for their votes, but for a seat at the table. Mary Church Terrell. Fannie Lou Hamer. Diane Nash. Mary McLeod Bethune. Constance Baker-Motley. Shirley Chislom. She spoke their names.
Harris’ mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris had come to America to cure cancer but died of it in 2009.
“Oh, how I wish she were here tonight,” Harris said. “But I know she’s looking down on me from above.”
As a mostly single mother, she raised her two girls alone. “She made it look easy, though it never was,” she continued. “My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she’s looking down on me from above. I keep thinking about that 25-year-old Indian woman—all of five feet tall—who gave birth to me at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California.
“On that day, she probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now speaking these words: I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America,” Harris added.
Amid the worst global medical crisis of this generation, Harris reminded listeners of the interconnectedness of inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation, reproductive and maternal health care, excessive use of force by police, and in the broader criminal justice system.
“This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other—and how we treat each other. And let’s be clear—there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve gotta do the work.”
The black and immigrant women Harris represents have arguably, always been at work to fashion and force a more perfect Union. If she and Biden’s historic bid is to be successful, it will largely be on the organizing and mobilizing efforts of these women once again.
“In this election, we have a chance to change the course of history. We’re all in this fight.”
