East Bay pride blooms at Oakland DNC watch party

OAKLAND -- "To even know someone from Oakland is going to become president of the United States. It's amazing!"

Cynthia Adams, president of the NAACP Oakland branch and organizer of a Kamala Harris/DNC watch party Thursday night, said many of the people who attended never thought they would live to see the day where a woman, let alone a Black South Asian woman and an Oakland native, would rise to become the Democratic Party nominee for president.

"We probably thought we would see a man but a woman? An African American woman before any other race? It's a blessing," Adams said.

Dozens of Oakland natives and people from across the bay gathered to watch the historic nomination.

Sisters Earnestine and Adia Harrison said that watching Harris accept the nomination in the town where both they and Harris were born was something special.

"Being the nominee for one of the two major parties is a big deal and so just seeing Oakland represented in that kind of positive way is something that I'm excited about," Adia Harrison said.

Terry Wiley, inspector general of San Francisco and former colleague of Vice President Harris when they were both at the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, said he too is proud to see her rise to this moment but isn't surprised she's here.

"In terms of the hard work, the intelligence, the integrity and just the dignity that she always carried herself with," Wiley said.

For Cynthia Adams the feeling of this night can be boiled down to one word.

"Joy," Adams said.

And what does that joy mean to her?

"That's hope. That is hope. I'm ready for it. I'm ready for it. I can't wait," Adams said.