Poet Tracy K. Smith Pays Tribute to Kamala Harris

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Senator Kamala Harris is a symbol of hope and healing for millions of Americans. Here, poet Tracy K. Smith meditates on why Harris feels like history in the making.

IN THE MONTHS since the killing of George Floyd, I’ve been stirred by the many statements of determination that have arisen out of the movement for racial justice in America. One call is for institutions and communities to do more to hear and heed the perspectives of Black people and people of color in their midst. These voices and perspectives—our voices, our perspectives—are key to harvesting the many opportunities alive within American democracy.

When the news reached me in August that Senator Kamala Harris had been selected as Joe Biden’s running mate, it struck me that the Democratic Party was ready to listen—and to learn. Harris’s courage, brilliance, energy, and her decades of experience have long qualified her to help lead America forward out of our current national moment. And her perspective as a woman of color is critical to doing the work of helping all of us heal from the strife of racism and racial division.

But history affirms that the work of speaking up can be difficult, even dangerous. It has never been easy for Black women to lead in America. Those who have done so have endured great resistance and even great personal risk. Unfounded as they are, today’s partisan attacks against Harris belong to an age-old tradition of threat and intimidation designed to silence and distort voices of truth and dissent.

In the weeks since Harris joined the Democratic ticket, we've seen a dramatic raising of the stakes where this election is concerned. In the wake of a chaotic first presidential debate, the voice of the vice presidential candidates at the debate tonight will be particularly conspicuous—and critical. I'll be listening for the clarity of vision and conscience characteristic of Harris, and the honest intelligence she brings to all that she does.

From the upheaval and loss of the COVID-19 pandemic to the ongoing national movement for racial justice, it’s been a year of struggle and consternation and guarded faith. But with Harris on the Democratic ticket, I feel energized. I feel emboldened to brazenly hope. I feel the thrill of community coalescing around a powerful voice calling for change. I feel the light of a new age.

 

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It’s VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS and Tracy K. Smith could have told you to go with the powder blue suit cover. Like does Anna Wintour even have any BIPOC friends? GTFOH vogue

It’s Madame Vice President now, not Senator.

Twiddle Dee is not anything of the sort. She is a symbol of an adulterous social climbing ex-cop with nothing on the ball.

ImpeachJoeBiden ImpeachKamalaHarris

🤮

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