Translate

Tupac Amaru Shakur, " I'm Loosing It...We MUST Unite!"

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

How Black women secured Kamala Harris' spot on the ticket


Kamala Harris’ ascent to the Democratic ticket marked a big win for a small yet influential group of Black female Democratic strategists, who cast Joe Biden’s selection of Harris for vice president as the result of decades of advocacy, progress and struggle.

Black political strategists have long called the list of women of color on Biden’s vice presidential shortlist an embarrassment of riches — a small victory by itself after previously going decades without seeing another woman on a Democratic ticket. But they say Harris’ nomination is a long-awaited recognition of the political force that Black women have been as a consistent and enthusiastic bloc in Democratic politics.

As Biden and his campaign sifted through the contenders to select a vice president, they stayed in close touch with a brain trust of Black female advisers who have been arguing with top party brass for years about increasing representation on the ballot to match the Democratic Party's voting coalition. Minyon Moore, a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, was one of the leading voices pushing for a Black woman to join Biden on the ticket, along with former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile and other Black Democratic operatives.

The lobby for a Black woman on the ticket worked in public and in private, with backdoor conversations with Biden’s core team of advisers as well as a consistent media campaign in favor of a Black woman for vice president. Few were willing to pick a favorite among the Black women Biden considered for the job, saying the most important criterion for Biden’s vice presidential pick was the strength of his relationship with the woman who would join him on the ticket.

Rumors that Harris’ June 2019 debate jab at Biden might hurt her chances were overblown, Moore said. When some Biden allies launched a campaign to counter Harris, citing her ambitions to become president, the Black operatives pushing for her or another Black woman used the media to answer back. Several Biden allies, including House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, pushed back on the criticism, saying there is a double standard for women, and particularly women of color, with big goals.



People familiar with the vetting process said Biden’s team took their recommendation very seriously — a dynamic that hasn’t always come through in other vice presidential vettings, which by their nature can be closed off and insular processes.

“They have really spent an invaluable amount of time listening to people, soliciting advice,” said Brazile, who managed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign.

The last time she lobbied for a Black woman vice presidential nominee, during Walter Mondale's 1984 campaign, Brazile said her request fell on deaf ears.

“A Black woman was never even considered,” Brazile continued, citing Barbara Jordan, Patricia Harris and Shirley Chisholm as Black women in politics who “could have easily fit the description of what Walter Mondale was looking for.”

Harris’ selection, she said, is a sign that both Biden and his team finally listened. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), who served as one of Biden’s core advisers in the vice presidential selection process, was cited as an influential figure in his ultimate decision.

Hours after Biden announced Harris as his pick, Moore reflected on the push to nominate the California senator as the latest step in a winding, often painful path for women in national Democratic politics. That path traced from Geraldine Ferraro joining Mondale’s 1984 ticket through Clinton’s 2016 run to Tuesday’s elevation of Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants and a graduate of Howard University, a historically Black university.



“We all did what we felt like we needed to do at this particular time in history. We all believed that Kamala Harris was the right person for this job,” Moore said. “She had more qualifications than a lot of people on the list. She was battle-tested. She brings the experience that [Biden] needs to serve as his No. 2.”

Harris polled no higher than third among African Americans during her run for the Democratic presidential nomination, running into wariness about her record as a prosecutor and support for Biden that was more enduring than many assumed in the year before he won the primary.

Still, Black legislators saw her as a favorite to join a Biden ticket as early as May 2019, as both were actively petitioning Congressional Black Caucus members for support of their presidential campaigns. And Harris’ recent work in the Senate dovetails with months of protests and activism in response to police violence and a public health crisis that has exacerbated racial inequities. Since the onset of Covid-19, Harris has sponsored legislation addressing an impending eviction crisis as well as the dearth of racial and ethnic data on coronavirus cases.

Glynda Carr, founder and CEO of the Higher Heights PAC, which supports Black women running for office, said Harris’ selection affirms “that we have a bench of Black women who are qualified that come to our American democracy with a lived experience and are ready to lead on Day One.”

“Every single one of the women who were on the long list or the short list, that’s a prideful moment,” Carr continued, calling it the end of a journey that started with Shirley Chisholm running for president almost a half-century earlier. “I think this is a day for a sense of pride for Black women across this country. And tomorrow will be the day that people get to work.”



from Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories https://ift.tt/3iBZW67
via 400 Since 1619

Ilhan Omar beats primary challenger in Minnesota

Lauryn Hill’s daughter opens up about absent dad Rohan Marley

The 21-year-old says she’s ‘hurting’ over the trauma she suffered as a child.

Selah Marley, the 21-year-old daughter of Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley, took to Instagram on Monday to share a video in which she gets candid about her relationship with her parents. 

In the now-deleted clip, Marley called her mother an “amazing woman” but revealed she was also “very angry” and oftentimes impossible to talk to. 

“She was just very angry. So, so, so, so, so, so angry. She was literally not easy to talk to and then half the time we didn’t live with her,” she said. “I lived with my grandparents half the time… It’s crazy, I’m playing this trauma back in my head as I speak to you.”

Marley also recalled how the singer would spank her children with a belt, which she described as “slave sh*t,” The Source reports.

Read More: Lauryn Hill pens empowering letter to Temple University class of 2020

Glastonbury Festival 2019 - Day Three
(Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

“And then the threats, the constant threats… That belt man. That’s that slave sht. That was some slavery sht. All Black parents were on that sh*t,” she continued.

Marley also confessed to having daddy issues due to her father being absent, and touched on the negative effects her parents arguing had on her.  

In the video, she notes that her parents “didn’t really get to know each other” and that “they were always arguing, always fighting” and that was why she didn’t see “much peace.”

“I’d just be crying and crying and crying and crying…” she said about listening to the arguments.

“Honestly guys, I’m just hurting. I can’t even front that I’m not,” Marley said. “I’ve been hurting for so much of my life and so much of my life has been me avoiding how much I’m really hurting just from the circumstances.”

On Tuesday (Aug. 11), Rohan Marley, son of reggae icon Bob Marley, apologized to her daughter and noted in a statement that her “expression on Instagram is a healing process for her,” Rohan said in a statement released through his rep, Hollywood Life reports. “I’m very happy that she is fearless in her expression.”

“I love her very much and do apologize for any contributions I may have added by arguing in front of her as a child,” he continued. “I’ve grown as a man, a spiritual being and a father. I am constantly growing and will teach my children to always take the higher road in any disagreements.  I will be there for her no matter how many hours, days, months or years it will take. I will be the best Dad that I can be. One Love.”

Read More: Bob Marley’s son, Rohan, applies to open N.J. medical marijuana dispensary

2013 Consumer Electronics Show Highlights Newest Technology
Rohan Marley, son of late Reggae musician Bob Marley. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

Marley also returned to social media Tuesday to defend her parents from criticism following the coverage of her initial video. 

“My mother is a human, she’s not a perfect person but I’m not going to feed off all the negativity,” she said. “In the past 10 years she’s healed so much and I’ve watched her evolve and the same thing with my father. I mean he did some BS lately but my father, he’s healing as well. I came on and saw how the media misconstrued what I said, that is why I came on live it was a one dimensional narrative.”

Marley also made clear that her relationship with her mother got better during her teen years and now they are very close. 

“Me and my mother are very close. She’s texting me as we speak,” she said. “Anger is a secondary emotion for sadness. I think for me growing up, remember I grew up with all brothers, so I’m like we’re fighting, we are fighting so I just learned how to be tough, I was always tough. So now coming back I’m learning how to cry again,” she confessed.

“Learning how to forgive is a big one, learning how to love, learning how to not be angry. And what I’m even learning now is how many walls I put up,” Marley added.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

Loading the player...

The post Lauryn Hill’s daughter opens up about absent dad Rohan Marley appeared first on TheGrio.



from TheGrio https://ift.tt/33PeafR

Black Faith

  • Who are you? - Ever since I saw the first preview of the movie, Overcomer, I wanted to see it. I was ready. Pumped. The release month was etched in my mind. When the time...
    4 years ago

Black Business

Black Fitness

Black Fashion

Black Travel

Black Notes

Interesting Black Links

Pride & Prejudice: Exploring Black LGBTQ+ Histories and Cultures

  In the rich tapestry of history, the threads of Black LGBTQ+ narratives have often been overlooked. This journey into their stories is an ...