Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s swearing in makes history during unprecedented time for the Supreme Court

        Candice Norwood · June 30
      • Biden’s new environmental justice office aims to tackle the health impacts disproportionately faced by people of color

        Jessica Kutz · June 2
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How pregnant people can prepare for a summer of heat waves

        Jessica Kutz · June 17
      • The 19th Explains: How new Title IX guidelines on sexual misconduct may give more help to survivors

        Nadra Nittle · June 14
      • The 19th Explains: How would overturning Roe v. Wade affect IVF?

        Jennifer Gerson · May 27
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a Member

Donate to support our mission

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Election 2020

Kamala Harris brings history, identity to her convention night closeup

In a speech both personal and potent, the vice presidential nominee introduced herself to the nation and spoke to the existential nature of the 2020 presidential election.

Errin Haines

Editor-at-large

Errin Haines portrait

Published

2020-08-19 23:28
11:28
August 19, 2020
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Shyamala’s daughter. Howard University Bison. Sister of Alpha Kappa Alpha. Prosecutor. “Momala.” Pioneer.

When California Sen. Kamala Harris took the stage Wednesday night to accept the Democratic nomination for vice president, she brought her full self to the stage, making the case for confronting systemic racism, addressing the coronavirus pandemic and electing former Vice President Joe Biden amid the threat of voter suppression.

Harris’ speech was the climax of a two-hour tribute to the contributions of women to American democracy and political pioneers, filled with symbolism and substance. She was preceded by Barack Obama, the country’s first Black president; Hillary Clinton, the first woman nominated for president of a major political party; and Nancy Pelosi, the first woman elected as Speaker of the House. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Harris, 55, becomes the first woman of color to be nominated for vice president on a major party ticket, and the third woman to be nominated for the No. 2 slot. In an interview with The 19th last week, she said Biden’s decision to add her to the ticket took “audacity,” and that it was one he made despite the risk.

The night came a day after the nation observed the centennial anniversary of suffrage, and the program also included a recognition of the milestone. Harris’ speech referenced the landmark legislation — but with an asterisk for the Black women who would have to fight for nearly half a century for their access to the ballot. 

In her remarks, Harris called the names of the Black suffragists whose names have often been erased or omitted from the history of the movement — including Mary Church Terrell and Mary McLeod Bethune — as well as civil rights leaders Fannie Lou Hamer and Diane Nash. She name-checked Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for president as a major party candidate, in whose spirit Harris launched her own campaign for president in January 2019.

“Without fanfare or recognition, they organized, testified, rallied, marched and fought — not just for their vote, but for a seat at the table,” Harris said, wearing a pearl necklace in a nod to the founders and incorporators of her sorority. “They paved the way for the trailblazing leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. And these women inspired us to pick up the torch, and fight on.”

In humanizing the policies Biden has said will be part of his agenda as president, women were often the face of the evening, from struggling small business owners and immigrants to victims and survivors of gun violence and people dealing with the fallout of the pandemic. 

Women are the majority of the electorate and the U.S. workforce, and have been the majority of the American population disproportionately impacted by and responding to the coronavirus pandemic from an economic, mental health and labor perspective. Polling shows Biden leading among women voters, and President Donald Trump has attempted to appeal to suburban women in particular by raising the spectre of crime in their neighborhoods under a Biden-Harris administration.

While some Americans may recognize Harris from her withering Senate Judiciary inquiries, the wife, stepmother, sister and aunt also humanized herself. Many heard her life story for the first time Wednesday, as voters begin to focus on the 2020 election, now 11 weeks away. 

Harris told her story as the daughter of immigrants who came to America and became activists, taking her along as they protested in her native Oakland, California.

“My mother instilled in my sister, Maya, and me, the values that would chart the course of our lives,” Harris said. “She raised us to be proud, strong Black women. And she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage.”

It was a story she told more forcefully than during last year’s primary, as issues of race and gender stalled her campaign and forced her off the campaign trail before voters could weigh in on her candidacy. On Wednesday, she leaned into both, speaking plainly about the need to address the dual pandemics of coronavirus and racism which have been laid bare in recent months.

“The virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other — and how we treat each other,” she said. “And let’s be clear — there is no vaccine for racism.” 

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

“We’ve got to do the work to fulfill that promise of equal justice under law. Because none of us are free until all of us are free,” Harris continued, quoting Hamer. 

Harris ended by telling voters that the country is at “an inflection point,” bookending her appearance at the start of Day Three of the convention, in which she encouraged viewers to come up with a plan to cast their ballots. It was a message that echoed an urgency conveyed by many of the evening’s speakers, and a theme that has reverberated through the week. 

Harris tied Biden’s election to the idea that November is an existential moment for democracy, arguing that she and Biden will take on the dual pandemics and usher in a better America.

“Make no mistake, the road ahead will not be easy,” Harris said. “We will stumble. We may fall short. But I pledge to you that we will act boldly and deal with our challenges honestly. And we will act with the same faith in you that we ask you to place in us.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a Member

Donate to support our mission

Up Next

Election 2020

DNC largely ignores suffrage centennial

Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, but the milestone was not on the convention’s agenda.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram