Black Women Leaders See Decades of Struggle Vindicated in Kamala Harris’ Ascension

Black Democrats not only see the vice president’s success as a result of generations of hard work, but also as a pathway to more.

Kamala Harris celebrates with her families as the balloons fall.

Vice President Kamala Harris celebrates with her families as the balloons fall. Paul Sancya/AP

CHICAGO — The emotion from Black women on the floor as Kamala Harris accepted her party’s presidential nomination were, in some ways, a manifestation of the sweat equity the key group has put in to create a Democratic Party that recognizes their contributions and their loyalty.

“This moment was built by Black women,” Glynda Carr, the the president, CEO and co-founder of the Higher Heights for America PAC, told NOTUS. “You go from a Fannie Lou Hamer who boldly testified before the Democratic convention, Shirley Chisholm entering her name into the nomination, and 52 years later, you have Kamala Harris stepping on the stage this week to shatter not the glass ceiling but a concrete ceiling that often times women of color and Black women face.”

That ceiling was halfway shattered when Harris said just a dozen words: I accept your nomination for president of the United States of America.