On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to the biennial convention of Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis. VP Harris is an AKA – she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority when she attended Howard. Harris has always repped hard for AKA and for Black sororities and fraternities, and in turn, those sororities and fraternities are going to come out strong for VP Harris:
There are many glass ceilings a Kamala Harris presidency could shatter. One of them is that she could be the first black sorority member to sit in the Oval Office. The US vice-president, who spoke on Wednesday at the biennial convention of Zeta Phi Beta, is a life-time member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. The two organisations are among the predominantly black sororities and fraternities that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Commonly called the Divine Nine, its nearly four million members are poised to become a secret weapon as Ms Harris seeks the presidency.
Less than 24 hours after Joe Biden endorsed his deputy to seek the Democratic nomination in his place, the group vowed to launch an “unprecedented voter registration, education and mobilisation” drive. As a non-profit, the National Pan-Hellenic Council is non-partisan and cannot officially endorse Ms Harris. But it is promising a campaign that “will activate the thousands of chapters and members in our respective organisations to ensure strong voter turnout in the communities we serve”.
That is in line with how the Divine Nine historically gets behind its own. Its members have supported Ms Harris, 59, in the past as she climbed the ladder of national politics.
It’s a very big deal and I’ve already seen a lot of support online from sorors and fraternity brothers. The fact that the Divine Nine made this unprecedented step of issuing a statement of intention to drive a lot of mobilization in Harris’s way is very significant.
Also significant? VP Harris just dropped her first TV ad. Of course she used Beyonce’s “Freedom,” which Beyonce already released/licensed to the Harris campaign. This is a great ad, truly. The “where no one is above the law” section with Trump’s mugshot is *chef’s kiss*.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Cover Images.
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- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speak at a campaign event to keep Black Voters at Girard College in Philadelphia Featuring: Vice President Kamala Harris Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States When: 29 May 2024 Credit: William Wade/INSTARimages
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- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speak at a campaign event to keep Black Voters at Girard College in Philadelphia Featuring: Vice President Kamala Harris Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States When: 29 May 2024 Credit: William Wade/INSTARimages
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris makes remarks during a Juneteenth concert on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, June 10, 2024. In 2021, Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenth as the nation’s newest Federal holiday. Credit: Ting Shen / Pool via CNP Featuring: Kamala Harris Where: Washington, District of Columbia , United States When: 10 Jun 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris during an event celebrating the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Vice President’s first task in formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination will be to corral her former congressional colleagues, newly emboldened after a successful pressure campaign to force their party’s leader, Joe Biden, off the 2024 ballot Featuring: Kamala Harris Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jul 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States Vice President Kamala Harris makes remarks during an event celebrating the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 22, 2024. The Vice President’s first task in formally securing the Democratic presidential nomination will be to corral her former congressional colleagues, newly emboldened after a successful pressure campaign to force their party’s leader, Joe Biden, off the 2024 ballot Featuring: Kamala Harris Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 22 Jul 2024 Credit: Ting Shen/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
LOTUS for POTUS!! I’m with her!
P.S. Kamala = Lotus in Sanskrit and the brown girl in me is giddy! My dad is from the same town as Kamala’s mom and I am stupid excited for Madam Prez!
Oh, that is very cool!
That’s really cute, actually.
That’s awesome! And that ad — tears-in-eyes perfection.
Same, @Agnes!
I fully burst into tears over my breakfast this morning when I saw that ad. The visuals alone! You can have THIS — groups of excited, happy, joyful people working to build a better world — or you can have the orange monster and the couch f*cker (Bluesky was ON FIRE with couch jokes last night).
I haven’t felt a vibe shift like this since Obama addressed the DNC that first time, in what? 2004? when we were all sitting in my living room going “Who is THAT?” The explosion of support and joy and people signing up to get to work … oh please let’s do this …
It reminded me of how I felt after the 2016 DNC. I just couldn’t understand how someone could watch the RNC and then the DNC and think “yeah give me the angry party of hate over the hopeful optimistic party trying to move us forward.”
I think this was perfect because the visuals made the point clear about Trump but the overall message was uplifting and moving.
@Charlotte, yep, all the FOX and right-wing pundits are trying to make fun of Kamala Harris for *laughing* (sort of the opposite of the old “pretty girls smile” trope) and she and her team are just like, well yes, that’s right, we enjoy laughing, and so do many, many Americans (hence the hilarious couch jokes.) I love this ad so much, it’s perfect.
oh, my god, it gave me chills!!
Scarlett, Thanks for explaining LOTUS for POTUS. That’s a great slogan.
And her 2024 ad is awesome!
Thank you all, I believe that slogan was first shared on either X or Threads, I love it and have been sharing it everywhere, wish I had come up with it.
The Southern Asian community is rooting for our girl!!
Just beautiful! FREEDOM.
But … but … Donald has Kid Rock!
So hilarious that he STILL plays Y.M.C.A. at his rallies, unironically. 🕺🏽 Talk about an old, old man.
Yes!! So so relevant for today’s 18-29 voter. (Disclaimer I am NOT in that range. But good lord the energy of the youth has been vibrant this week. I saw that voter registration is up like 800%!!)
LFG!!
I have 18 and 20 yo sons, and we live in Texas, so they were not feeling this presidential election. I had gotten them and all their friends the absentee voting forms to make sure everyone signed up before they take off for college, and they and all their friends were like, ‘why? what’s the point? the criminal is going to win.’ And in the past two days, they’ve all come back to me, plus some. I’ve helped sign up over dozen first time voters. Its happening, my friends. I am SO optimistic fir the first time since Dobbs came down and took away our right to choice.
Love to hear it, @MsDarcy!
Chills.
That gave me chills! 💗
Omg same♥️♥️♥️ this is the america we’ve learned to love back when we first came to the country, 20+ yrs ago. Freedoms make America great, sorry orange clown.
Fantastic ad! Feels very energizing!
Yes very energizing I agree!!
I just wanted to say as a Canadian watching US politics, I’ve been moved to tears many times over the past few days.
I was in the camp of ‘ keep going with Biden’s nomination’ but I’ve truly felt a new surge of energy with Kamala Harris and how the people have rallied around her. I feel more hopeful now.
You can do this!! ❤️
I love everything about this!
Awesome ad for an awesome candidate.
Full body CHILLS, guys. That ad is so, SO good.
As an Indy resident, I wished so badly I could see her speak yesterday.
That ad gave me chills!
I’m from Indy also, and I would have loved the chance to see Kamala, but there will be other opportunities. She is on fire, and that determination will bring the radical troglodytes to their knees.
That ad is SO GOOD!!! I am so excited to vote for Harris!!
Great ad! Good to see the energy. So happy to reclaim “freedom” in an effective way. And, white women, if you are as unhappy as I am about some electoral choices made by other white women and want to support this candidate, there’s a rapid response initiative: answerthecall.com. Zoom call tonight 8:30 PM ET with registration. I think it’s led by Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action. I was disgusted by some things Democratic-voting white women I know have said about Harris, both before and after her becoming the presumptive nominee, from the smear about her early-career relationship to “I don’t know why, I just don’t like her” [shades of what was done to Hillary Clinton] to “she’s [looks at ceiling for a while], how do I say this without sounding [mumbles] …. she’s *sassy.*” We have to be allies, we have to do something.
Oh geez, not that bullsh*t again. Sounds like these women are probably “Meghan haters” too. We have one country, and in some ways I feel this is our last chance to pull things together before we descend into chaos. These NOTD types need to get it together quick.
Knowing those particular people, they likely do not follow anything about the British royals or the Meghan situation. Just susceptible to the usual BS but think they’re too smart to be susceptible. And while they vote Democratic, one is registered Libertarian and one is registered Independent, so we have to take note of the many people who think they “know better” and consider themselves “renegades.” These are the people who get offended by the binary choices they have to make every 4 years but never put any effort into any kind of grassroots party development or voting reform in between. Some are shocked to find out just how far back this 2-party dilemma goes in American history. And they generally are not that well informed and think they will be sheltered from the dictates of authoritarianism.
The website is actually answerthecall2024.org.
Without the 2024, it’s a fundraiser for families of deceased FDNY/NYPD personnel.
Yikes, wrong website it’s https://www.answerthecall2024.com/
Thank you so much for sharing this link 🔗
I signed up yesterday! She has ALL my support. I live across the river from PA and I’m going to be volunteering my butt off for her.
Thanks for the link… registered and sent to all the white women in my life with access to join. 🩷
I heard it from a relative of mine a few days before Biden withdrew. I told her that Harris would be the only viable alternative, and when she seemed displeased I asked what exactly was wrong with Harris? She said she has no solid persona, that she doesn’t “have a soul” like Biden, that she was a prosecutor (“someone has to be!” was my response) and that she was “NOT A MOTHER.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. This was coming from a woman who has children but also has a career, and continues to work (enthusiastically) in her 60s. How can she could say that about another woman is baffling. Mind you, she didn’t like Hillary either and would have said the same thing about a white woman with Harris’s background. It’s not racism with her, it’s internalized misogyny,
Oh, and her husband is Indian, BTW.
She will vote for Harris in November, I am sure. She’s adamantly pro choice. But if you want to protect our rights and this democracy, you have to let go of your weird notions of what a candidate has to be and how s/he has to “speak to you.”
We desperately need her in the White House.. that add highlights just how much.
And we even more desperately do not need HIM and his corrupt ilk in the White House…
I flat-out cried and got goosebumps. GO KAMALA!
Same, this is a great ad. I’m starting to think bursting into tears is going to be the norm for me the next 100 days. I am so grateful for the electricity and pure hope that has exploded for Kamala. I didn’t realize how much fear I was carrying around.
Chef’s kiss with the pic! Love this ad! Well done. I got chills listening to the crowd chat KAMALA!!! Kamala!!!
@Scarlett I’m ordering a graphic T with ‘Lotus for Potus’ as we speak!!! Thank you for sharing the beautiful translation!!
I’m a white girl and beyond excited to have her in the oval office.. but thinking about the bipoc little girls out there seeing her be the leader of the free world is what really brings that water to my eyes!!
This is going to transform the way the whole free and soon to be free world works and I doubt I can comprehend the changes to come!
Love that Freedom’s Kamala’s anthem!!<3
Freedom
Freedom
I can't move
Freedom, cut me loose
Singin', freedom! Freedom! Where are you?
'Cause I need freedom, too
I break chains all by myself
Won't let my freedom rot in hell
Hey! I'ma keep running
'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves
🪷 Lotus for POTUS is so cool @Scarlett!!! 🫰
Agh! This gets me emotional. We need a first US female president. Kamala is amazing too. Go Kamala! <3
As an Indian-American, I am pumped!! I joined a zoom yesterday organized by South Asian Women for Harris. Mindy Kaling, Pramilia Jayapal and Poorna Jagannathan were all on the call and spoke. It was inspiring and helped raise almost $300K! I encourage everyone to get out there and help in whatever way possible.
LOTUS FOR POTUS!
This is a great uplifting ad. VP Harris should definitely focus more on positivity and what she wants to do to help Americans as President. She should leave the negativity and taking down of Trump to her surrogates.
No, please, she’s too good at dissing Trump! He HATES it when black women prosecutors go after him, hahahaha. Her scornful smirk whenever she mentions his name gives me life.
Ugh, not a huge fan of the ad, to be honest, feels like your run-of-the-mill political campaign ad, I had hoped they’d do something more unique for her, she is running under very unusual circumstances and she’s only the second woman ever to run for president, I feel like she deserved an ad that was fresh, unprecedented, and unlike anything we’ve seen before. Do the professionals running her campaign really not feel that way? Or is this the best they could do on a short notice? I do hope they come out with something more unique than generic rah-rah.
Before people jump me: I’m excited about Kamala, yes, this ad brought tears to my eyes, too, but I’m an easy target for it. I am not sure it does anything for those outside the choir, though. And that’s obviously not on Kamala.
@Jenny: It’s the perfect ad to get the Dem base they have fired up (which they initially need to focus on given the way the transition was handled). But I’m sure they’ll start rolling out more targeted, innovative ads soon.
The AD is FANTASTIC 😍😍 I’m all Jazzed up and I’m outside the choir😍
In 2016, it felt like I’d had the wind knocked out of me. I believed we’d never have a female president in my lifetime. This is it, everybody. It’s happening. I’m choked up with emotion every time I think about this. Kamala is the one!