Teja Smith and other Black women are feeling disillusioned and drained after Kamala Harris' loss in the election. The experience has led them to consider shifting their political focus to local issues and community concerns.
The day Joe Biden faced reality, stepped aside and cleared the way for Kamala Harris to replace him atop the Democratic ticket, Teja Smith felt a mix of exhilaration and dread. Smith, who runs a social media firm in Los Angeles, had been working particularly hard of late, so she treated herself to a daylong stay-cation with family at a Beverly Hills hotel. Word of Biden's announcement came as they were hanging out by the pool.
The historic nature of that thunderclap moment wasn't lost on the 34-year-old entrepreneur. But there was another, less-uplifting sensation as well. 'Get ready,' Smith posted on Instagram, 'because we're about to see how much America hates Black women.' The election result on Nov. 5 — just about 100 days after Harris' overnight transformation — left Smith feeling sadly, grimly vindicated. The only surprise, she said, was how badly Harris lost. Her defeat, Donald Trump's triumph in each and every battleground state and — especially — his winning the popular vote were more than a slap in the face of Black women, long among the most loyal and dedicated of Democrats. It was a fist landed square in the gut. Raw. Visceral. Shattering. The feeling has left many like Smith and other Black women she knows ready to pull back from national politics, focusing more on their inner needs and applying their outward energy to local issues and community concerns — places where their investment of heart and soul will be reciprocated in a way that seems beyond much of America. 'It's draining,' Smith said of seeing the vice president — a former United States senator, California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney — turned aside so emphatically. It also shows, she said, that 'no matter how high the ladder' a Black woman manages to climb, 'people are still going to doubt you.' Political activism came naturally to Smith. Her grandmother, who helped raise her, opened the Oakland chapter of the Urban League
Kamala Harris Black Women Politics Disillusionment Election
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