Applause thundered down the massive convention hall as Vice President Kamala Harris walked to the microphone in Indianapolis on Wednesday. When Harris had agreed to speak to the national conference for Zeta Phi Beta sorority, she didn’t know it would be days after she became the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for president. For the 6,000 Black sorority sisters in the room, the thrill of greeting one of their own at this historic moment was palpable.
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“We love you!” said someone in the audience. “And I love you back!” said Harris, who had been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha when she studied at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Both Zeta Phi Beta and Alpha Kappa Alpha are part of the influential historically Black Divine Nine sororities and fraternities
The women in the room came from across generations and across the country. Many of them had marched for voting rights, economic justice and to end racial segregation in the early 1960s and had worked on national campaigns to improve women’s health care. Many in the room, Harris said, had helped elect Joe Biden president and her vice president. And Harris called on them to help get out the vote in their communities in November.
“Now is the moment our nation needs your leadership once again,” Harris said. “We face a choice between two different visions. One focused on the future, the other focused on the past. With your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”
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Harris said she is pushing for affordable health care for everyone, which is why the Biden administration capped insulin for seniors at $35 a month. She said she believes in building an economy for working people, which is why she and Biden forgave student loan debt for more than 5 million Americans. Loud cheers went up again in the room. “If you or anyone you know benefited from that, please testify!” Harris said. Several people stood and waved.
“We are witnessing a full-on assault on hard won freedoms,” she said. She described measures making it harder to vote and states passing abortion restrictions.
“When I am President of the United States,” she started, the words sending 6,000 people to their feet in deafening applause, “and when Congress passes a law” to restore nationwide access to abortion, she said she would sign it. The loud clapping kept going.
“We are not playing around!” Harris continued. “We know when we mobilize, mountains move. When we mobilize, nations change. When we mobilize, we make history.”
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Before Harris came on stage, Betty Loveless Whittle from Greenville, Ala., said she hopes Harris will “work hard to mend us, pull us together, and do what’s right for everyone.” It was the first time Whittle, 73, had attended her sorority’s national convention. Whittle was one of the founding members of the local chapter of her sorority in 1973, and she said that she never thought she would be in the same room as the Vice President. She said she could feel the significance of the moment.
“In my fondest dreams, I never thought that would happen,” Whittle said.
“When we mobilize, we make history,” Harris said.