Kamala Harris’ trek from Howard University to the White House now lands her as the presumptive nominee for the Democratic ticket for the 2024 presidential bid. Students from her alma mater are excited.
This week, President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race ahead of the Nov. 5 election. In a formal letter posted to his X account, he listed policies he passed so far in his tenure such as expanding affordable health care and gun safety laws. Proudly, he also boasted about appointing the first Black woman in the Supreme Court. In the note, he expressed gratitude to the American people for giving him the honor to serve as president, and extended appreciation to Vice President Kamala Harris for the time they worked together as the Biden-Harris Administration.
In a later post, President Biden publicly gave his full support for Kamala Harris to be nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate.
With the endorsement of the current president, as well as other Democratic leaders such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), and now former Pres. Barack Obama, Harris has secured enough delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination. However, the official candidate will not be chosen until the Democratic National Convention, which takes place in Chicago from August 19 – 22.
Finalizing the presidential nominee is just the beginning. Reigniting the Black vote is the charge for the Democratic Party.
According to Pew Research Center, Black voters make up the largest racial demographic registered in the Democratic Party. Currently, 83% of Black registered voters identify as Democratic or lean Democratic, while 12% are Republican or lean Republican. Within this, the Black community carries varying opinions on Biden’s resignation and Harris’ candidacy.
A demographic group whose voice is being rekindled by Biden’s resignation is that of young Black voters.
Ark Republic asked Howard University students about their ideas on voting and if they will be casting a ballot in the coming major elections.
Davis Dailey, a Howard student from Richmond, Virginia spoke about how he lacked interest in voting prior to Biden’s resignation.
“There was no strong candidate, we were just choosing between the lesser of two evils,” said Dailey who also likened their behavior in the debates to “a circus.”
However, when Kamala Harris’ likelihood to appear on the November ballot emerged, Dailey gained more interest in the election because he found her to be the more capable candidate.
Similarly, Christian Marshall, a fellow student from Maryland, admitted to having little interest in politics, but intends to participate in the upcoming election and vote for Kamala if she appears on the ballot.
He commented, “I root for the people that more often than not seem to root for Black people.” While Marshall favors the Democratic Party because their platform includes the interests of Black citizens, he mentioned he is “not super into politics.”
Additionally, Marshall admits to only voting occasionally, but he still considers it important because, “Our forefathers fought for that right [to vote].”
On the other side of the collegiate opinion, Jay Jones, the Howard University Student Association (HUSA) president is no stranger to political campaigns. She too supports Harris.
Jones spoke to Ark Republic about the importance of the Democratic Party to get voters—especially Black people—invested in a Harris Administration immediately. With a little over 100 days left, the current second-in-command has a small window to run a campaign. “Harris is going to have to do in three months what Donald Trump had three years to do,” mentioned Jones
If her first 48 hours indicates her trajectory, it might be the Republican Party that might feel the pressure. Harris raised a record-breaking $100 million dollars. Of that has been over $46 million in grassroots donations. Additional money was transferred over from the former Republican presidential candidate, Nikki Haley’s, former group, “Haley Voters for Harris.”
“There were a lot of Black people that were not energized to vote for Joe Biden after that [the Presidential Debate],” commented Jones.
She continued, “The same caucuses and coalitions that were able to secure us for 2020 are not energized right now to vote for us the same way they did 2020. It’s gonna be an uphill battle.”
Jones also spoke about how this election is more about policy than people. The HUSA leader disagrees with Trump’s proposed policy such as rolling back federal administration and oversight policies as it relates to safety in the workplace and getting rid of DEI initiatives.“If you are not white, cisgender, and male, you yourself are not accessible to this platform,” she surmised.
Jones made history last year as the first trans student body president at Howard.
Like Jones, Naesoj Ware, the NAACP Howard Chapter President, sees policy as being the primary factor to consider in this election. She reminded voters “that this election was never about a person or party and more about the policies that these different candidates are pushing.”
Ware also voiced [spoke] that a Black woman in the Oval Office would inspire a whole new generation of BIPOC leaders. Moreover, a Harris win paves the way for a future where “everyone can do when we band together to do what’s necessary for democracy.”
Both Jones and Ware agree that to get the college students excited to vote, the Democrats must campaign on college campuses—including Howard University.
A legacy of Political Activism
Vice President Harris’ rise into politics is a common trajectory as a Howard University alumna. Located in Washington, D.C., the campus is a 2-mile walk from the White House. In fact, for Biden’s inauguration, Howard’s marching band participated in the parade, which made a stop in front of the historical Black institution.
For Howard, the political roots go generations deep. Howard University, also known as “the Mecca,” has been a hotbed for political and cultural activity for decades. Dating back to the 1930s, Howard students organized protests that dealt with desegregation in Washington, D.C restaurants. Notable members of the Howard community such as Ralph Bunche, a political activist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, participated in sit-ins and picket lines.
In 1960, a Howard student, Laurence Henry, led a group of Howard students known as the Nonviolent Action Group (NAG) in picketing the US Capitol to demand passage of a federal civil rights bill.
Other notable names such as Stokely Carmichael, who renamed himself Kwame Toure, was a Howard student when he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement. Later on, his work included campaigns that called for African liberation and the organizing of working-class Blacks across the globe.
Up to the present time, Howard’s unrelenting spirit of protest has continued. In 2021, the Live Movement organized a month-long protest at the student union center of Howard, in the resident dining hall of Blackburn Cafeteria. The occupation was deftly dubbed the “Blackburn Takeover” and received national news coverage. Specifically, students were protesting about unsafe living conditions in dorms on Howard’s campus.
Outside of Kamala Harris, other notable political alumni that have emerged from Howard include the first Black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, U.S Rep, Elijah Cummings of Maryland and the former mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin.
To add, due to its location, on any given day, students in classes can be a mixture of ambassadors, elected officials and government workers. That said, it can be quite common to debate a diplomat during a class meeting; hence, giving Howard University the fertile ground for political salience throughout the world.
Presenting her case as President to the People
Presently, the Howard alum and former prosecutor is poised to become the Democratic presidential candidate. Harris is expected to select her vice president within the next two weeks.
With the needed delegates in hand, Vice President Harris announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she would be traveling the country to campaign.
In these unforeseen times, the consensus among Black voters is largely positive as the Biden Administration is ending and Harris has grabbed the reins. This is evident in the swell of support she already received. On Sunday night, the group, “Win with Black Women,” hosted a conference call. Reports counted 44,000 Black women were in attendance. During those couple of hours, they amassed $1.5 million for Harris’s campaign. Harris’ support from Black women and students of Howard are both rooted in great embrace and pride.
“She could’ve gone to [Florida A&M University] or Spellman.” Dailey echoed the universal support Harris is receiving on HBCU campuses.
