Opinion: Kamala Harris Has a Fight to Win—and Black America Must Support Her

“We are running a people-powered campaign, and we just had some breaking news — we just had the best 24 hours of grassroots fundraising in presidential campaign history. And because we are a people-powered campaign, that is how you know we will be a people-first presidency.”

That was Vice President Kamala Harris speaking during a rally in Wisconsin, just a little more than 48 hours after President Joe Biden announced that he was ending his bid for re-election and dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. Biden endorsed Harris for the Democratic nomination, which likely means that the VP will be facing off against GOP nominee Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance —if Harris secures the party nomination, which seems almost like a foregone conclusion at this point.

On a video call with reportedly more than 53,000 Black men, I got a glimpse of what the future could mean–even beyond political party gamesmanship and election year anxieties. Journalist Roland Martin, activists Michael Blake, Khalil Thompson and Quentin James, and political commentator Bakari Sellers hosted the men's conference call “Win With Black Men.”

The call was just a day after a reported 44,000 Black women were on a similar call rallying around the vice president. Former South Carolina congressman Sellers spoke to those on the men’s call, acknowledging the role VP Harris played in helping him through a painful time for himself and his family. His wife Ellen Rucker Sellers had almost lost her life to liver disease after giving birth to their twins.

“I will never forget, the first person to call me,” an emotional Sellers said, ”was Kamala Harris. I am not sure people understand the pain and suffering that goes along with being a Black man in this country. I am not sure people understand what it means to stand strong in this country. To have your back against the wall. But I am going to stand with her because she stood with me during my darkest moment when I almost lost my daughter. When I had to protect my wife.”

Black men have been questioned and criticized for not being protective of Black women, for not showing solidarity with Black women, for outright betrayals of Black women. But what I’ve seen and heard in recent days has been a rebuke of the talking points that suggest that relations between Black men and women are divided and hostile.

On the day a Black woman started her journey to the presidency, with all that hangs in the balance in the 2024 election, I watched a Black woman get fatally shot by a police officer she’d called to her own home. The killing of Sonya Massey happened just as I was discussing the presidential prospects of Kamala Harris, who is all but assured of securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

Authorities released the bodycam footage of the shooting in Springfield, Illinois, on Monday, and it shows the 36-year-old Massey at her house after she called the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office, suspecting that an intruder was attempting to break into her home.

“Please don’t hurt me,” Massey can be heard saying to Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson, standing at her door with a second, yet-to-be-identified deputy.

“Why would I hurt you? You called us,” Grayson replies.

The two officers enter her home as she thanks them for coming. Things shift when she walks into her kitchen, where there is water boiling on the stove. In the footage released to the media, Grayson becomes agitated as Massey says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” before he threatens to shoot her “in your fucking face.” She doesn’t approach the officers, but starts apologizing as Grayson screams “Drop the fucking pot!” and opens fire as Massey attempts to duck the shots.

“Nah, headshot dude, she’s done,” Grayson says to the second deputy who offers to get a medic kit. “You can go get it but that’s a headshot.”

Massey can be heard breathing her final breaths after being shot in the face. The second deputy holds a towel to the mother of two’s head until medical help arrives. She was declared dead after being taken to a local hospital.

Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said in a statement that a review of the state police investigation, including body camera footage, “does not support a finding that Deputy Sean Grayson was justified in his use of deadly force.” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said via a statement that Grayson had been fired because it was clear he “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.”

Campbell also posted a statement on Facebook: “Grayson had other options available that he should have used. His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office. He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never again work in law enforcement.”

Grayson has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct.

America has never valued Black womanhood. An officer shot a woman in the face who’d called him into her house for help. She needed someone to protect her, so she called those who’ve been deemed to “protect and serve.” She died for trusting that they would protect her. She died believing they were there to help. He shot her because he not only didn’t think she was worth protecting, he saw no value in her life at all.

These images were still fresh as I watched thousands of Black men join a call to rally support for the vice president. I kept thinking about what she was about to face on the campaign trail, squaring off with an emboldened despot running on a platform of hubris and contempt. I thought about what we have to do as Black men to ensure that our sisters aren’t ever in the fight alone.

I was proud of how Black men showed up for Vice President Harris. I was proud when Black women did the same. I know it’s going to be necessary. Because things from this point on, it’s only going to get rougher. The paranoia and fear that have informed the American political climate since forever are coming to a head, and we will need to wrap our entire community with a protective shield of empathy and strength to get through it. There is no unity for unity’s sake, but there is recognition that Black men and Black women will go forward together.

A Black woman is about to be subject to the kind of smearing, sneering and contempt that is normally reserved for... well... Black women. What will the Harris campaign say about America and what will America have to say about the Harris campaign? This can be the year we break through more than a glass ceiling. This could be the year we break through hate. Not by changing the minds of bigots but in committing ourselves to getting where we want to go without needing their understanding of who we are. Our salvation lies with us. So we must protect Black women. Our community’s soul hangs in the balance.

Read more at The Daily Beast.