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.