Black sororities key Harris campaign advantage
‘We’re... going to make certain that our kiddos, the young folks, the old folks, get a chance to register and then get to the polls’
Daily Tribune‘We’re... going to make certain that our kiddos, the young folks, the old folks, get a chance to register and then get to the polls’
US Vice President Kamala Harris could reap campaign benefits from a wide network at her fingertips: the historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Washington, United States (AFP) — As Kamala Harris heads into the November presidential race against Donald Trump, a social club she joined in college four decades ago might just pay its biggest dividends yet.
“Whatever it is that she needs our coalitions to do, we’re going to be there to help push it out and get it done,” said Tanya Baham, a member of Harris’ college sorority, in attendance at the recent Democratic National Convention.
Sororities and fraternities abound across US college campuses — with their Greek-letter names, exclusive memberships, and promise of community, usually along same-sex lines.
But Harris’s membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically Black sorority, provides her campaign a direct line to a network of 360,000 women across the country, many of whom are excited to see one of their own in the White House.
And the Democratic Party, which counts women and Black voters as key constituencies in their electoral base, is paying attention.
While the sorority itself is non-partisan, many, like Baham, are ready to individually tap their networks for fundraising and voter registration in an election that could come down to the wire.
“We’re... going to make certain that our kiddos, the young folks, the old folks, get a chance to register and then get to the polls,” said Baham, a social worker in Louisiana.
