‘It’s really inspiring’: VP Kamala Harris has support in Middle Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Vice President Kamala Harris is no stranger to Middle Tennessee.

In 2023, she traveled to Nashville to support the Tennessee three. Harris visited Fisk University to support state representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after they faced expulsion for protesting on the House floor following the deadly Covenant school shooting.

“Democracy says you don’t silence the people!” Harris said during that initial visit. “You do not stifle the people you don’t turn off their microphones when they are speaking!”

In 2022, she was the commencement speaker at another historically Black university (HBCU), Tennessee State University.

“Graduates, we need you. We need you to run companies and make decisions about who needs capital,” she said during the address. “We need you to serve at the highest levels of government. We need you.”

The university gave her an honorary doctorate during that same year. TSU student Sydni Williams told News 2 that she finds Harris inspirational. Williams is the president of the Alpha Psi chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA). Harris is also a member of AKA.

“It’s really inspiring and as a little kid you never saw black people in these positions, aside from former president Barack Obama, but you’ve never seen black women in these positions,” Williams said. “It shows people — and more Black women like myself — there’s more to us than just nurses or businesswomen. There’s more.”

“We do plan on having voter registration drives, setting up tables in high-traffic areas on campus to help students engage and get students registered to vote,” Williams added.

As for those backing Harris, campaign efforts have also cropped up online. On Sunday, 44,000 women, including some from Middle Tennessee, joined the “Win with Black Women” Zoom call. That call was made up of Black women leaders across the country. They raised roughly a million dollars in support of the Vice President.

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