What Would a Kamala Harris Presidency Mean for Black Women? – Essence

President Biden sent shockwaves through Washington by abruptly ending his campaign on Sunday and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Influential Biden supporters like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez anxious that eliminating Biden wouldn’t routinely donor support for Kamala Harrisblack woman. But Harris’ entry into the race injected a shot of energy and money into what had develop into a demoralizing Democratic presidential campaign.

As many as 44,000 Black women joined the Win With Black Women Zoom call, and in only three hours, it raised greater than $1 million for Harris. ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platformhe tweeted that $46.7 million flowed into Kamala Harris’ campaign in 7 hours, making Sunday “the largest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle.”

There are many issues that Black women face, from challenges to reproductive freedom to staggering student loan debt and aggressive policies that disrupt our families and communities. So what would a Harris presidency mean for Black women?

Reproductive rights

Harris has been a staunch advocate for reproductive rights. On the 51st anniversary of Roe earlier this yr, Harris launched into a multi-city tour in support of reproductive freedom. In her first stop on the tour, in swing state Wisconsin, she explained in Interview for CNN that Trump was happy with what he had done to decimate women’s rights, and there was so far more at stake if he were reelected. “The motion is proud that women have been stripped of their basic freedoms to make decisions about their own bodies; the motion is proud that doctors are being punished and criminalized for providing health care; proud that women are suffering in silence because they don’t have access to the health care they need,” Harris added. “So let’s understand that the stakes are so very high.”

Harris also highlighted measures the Biden administration has taken to guard reproductive freedom, including increased access to contraceptives for federal staff and a rise within the variety of approved drugs available for free under the Affordable Care Act, in line with US News and World Report.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, praised Harris as a champion of reproductive rights: “I actually have had the extraordinary privilege of working and most recently campaigning with Vice President Kamala Harris. I actually have been proud to observe her develop into some of the vocal voices within the fight for sexual and reproductive rights.

“As a lawyer, attorney general, senator, vice president, and as a Black woman, Vice President Harris understands what lies ahead. She knows what it means for Black women to have less reproductive freedom in a country where we are more vulnerable to everything from maternal mortality to criminalization, and she is fighting back,” McGill said in a statement to ESSENCE.

Economic policy

Harris can also be a fighter with regards to creating economic opportunity for middle- and lower-class families. For example, during her first presidential campaign, she proposed a $6,000 tax break for married couples earning lower than $100,000, to be financed by reversing the tax cuts enacted within the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and taxing certain financial institutions, in line with PBS reports. In addition, she has championed the Biden administration’s economic policies, which include a bipartisan infrastructure bill, funding for small businesses, capping insulin costs at $35 and limiting prescription drug out-of-pocket costs to $2,000 for Medicare enrollees. Inflation Reduction ActAdditionally, Harris has advocated for student loan forgiveness, which might have a significant impact on the black community, as blacks graduate from college at a high rate. more student loan debt According to PBS reports, they’re wealthier than their white counterparts and take for much longer to repay their debts.

Rose Pierre-Louis, executive director of NYU’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, said that is a crucial moment that goes beyond politics and shows Black women and girls what is feasible. “This is a historic moment—not just in politics, but for Black women and girls across the country. At the McSilver Institute, we support communities empowered by generations of Black women who have worked tirelessly to lift and create opportunities for success despite ongoing histories of oppression, violence, and neglect,” Pierre-Louis told ESSENCE. Vice President Harris embodies countless years of individual and community effort within the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. We have long assured Black girls that they’ll at some point be president of the United States. This is the primary time we now have a real opportunity to deliver on that promise.”

Gun control

Vice President Harris has been an energetic advocate for increased gun control, dating back to her time as California attorney general, when she spearheaded a statewide effort to confiscate guns from those that illegally possessed them. As a senator, she co-sponsored laws ban assault weapons and high-capability magazines (those who can fire greater than 10 rounds before reloading). And as a part of the Biden administration, she worked to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), probably the most significant piece of gun control laws in 30 years. Among its provisions are funding for red flag law programs (which permit a judge to temporarily confiscate a gun from someone who’s having a mental health crisis and appears to be a danger to themselves or others), expanding access to mental health services, and expanding community violence intervention programs. Vice President Harris also took the lead in White House Office on Gun Violence Preventionwhich closed the gun show loophole by requiring all gun sellers to conduct background checks, no matter where the products are sold.

Racial Justice and Diversity (DEI)

Harris was one among several senators to introduce the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act. As Essence reports, the bill would end qualified immunity for cops, mandate de-escalation training for officers, create a national database of police misconduct and make it easier for the Justice Department to prosecute officers for civil rights violations.

Citing the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on black people, Harris has also called for an end to mandatory minimum sentences, money bail and the death penalty for the reason that murder of George Floyd. However, in her previous role as prosecutor wasn’t at all times so progressive and once pushed for higher money bail and refused to support independent investigations into police shootings, as reported by the NY Times. Asked about her evolution, she said, “I was swimming against the tide, and thankfully the tides have changed; the winds are in our sails. And I’m riding it out like everybody else — because it’s long overdue.”

Black women, the backbone of the Democratic Party, are largely supporting Harris’ historic run, and Democratic leaders are following her lead. Not only are all 50 states Democratic Party chairs have endorsed Harris, but previous Biden supporters like Bill and Hillary Clinton and James Clyburn (who resurrected Biden’s dying 2020 campaign) have endorsed Vice President Harris.

Bernice King, daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King and CEO of the King Center, also wholeheartedly supported Harris, publishing on X: “We urgently need a president who will ensure that the civil rights that my parents and so many others have fought so bravely to advance our Beloved Community are not destroyed. For that reason, I consider this presidential election a legacy vote. We must protect our legacy of perseverance in the fight for civil rights and stop efforts to restrict them.”

She continued, “With these beliefs in mind, I endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president and I call on all of my AKA sisters, HBCU alumni, Divine Nine members, and democracy advocates to join me in this goal.”

This spirit of camaraderie and collective support for Harris was reflected on social media. On Instagram, political strategist Alencia Johnson posted a photo of herself standing proudly next to Vice President Harris, with the caption: “So, it’s clear. Absolutely the only choice, and that’s Vice President Kamala Harris for president. I will do everything possible to ensure the inauguration of our first Black woman president.”

Despite the passion of the Democratic base, black women are well aware of the sexist and racist attacks Vice President Harris will face on the campaign trail. Still, women like Johnson consider Harris can beat Donald Trump.

“Hours after announcing she’s running, the energy from Black women voters is palpable. It means something that the backbone of the Democratic Party is already forming — ready to rally around the vice president and keep her spirits up as she faces a difficult but winnable fight,” she said.

Now that Vice President Harris’ presidential bid is all but certain—with grassroots support reaching all of the solution to the White House—the actual work begins to defeat Donald Trump, be certain that no a part of Project 2025 is realized, and preserve and expand the rights that Black women have fought so hard for. From Shirley Chisholm’s “Unbought and Unbossed” campaign as the primary Black woman to run for president in 1972 to Kamala Harris today, American democracy owes a debt of gratitude to the efforts of Black women, and let’s hope the remainder of the nation joins us within the fight.