Melissa Harris-Perry leads a conversation among Black women activists, scholars, and politicians to unpack the significance of Harris as the first Black woman nominated on a major party ticket.
Nina Smith is the first to invoke them during our conversation. “This nomination is pure joy for the Colored Girls who have labored in the Democratic Party for years.” It's a sentiment echoed by McGill Johnson. “This is a strategy to ensure Black women will engage this year. From the Colored Girls to today’s activists, Biden is choosing to lean into the base.”
The place Johnson Dias has touched with her analysis is a tender one, sore to even the slightest pressure. Harris is not the descendant of Black American slaves. She is cisgender and heterosexual. She has light skin and straight hair. She is beautiful by mainstream standards represented by white women. These embodied realities are not in her control and indicate nothing about her identity or allegiances.
Lilley actually wonders if Harris’s identity will matter at all. “This isn’t 2008. This isn’t 2012. Identity politics are important, but as the saying goes, 'All skin folk ain’t kinfolk.' So choosing a Black female candidate doesn't guarantee votes, especially among younger people of color,” she says. “As a California native, much of Harris’s criminal justice record concerns me, particularly her tough stance on truancy while she was a local and state prosecutor.
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