The DNC Made the Perfect Case for Kamala Harris

Thursday, August 22nd, 2024 will forever go down in history. I sat in a standing-room-only arena and watched person after person make the case for why Kamala Harris should be the 47th President of The United States of America.

The atmosphere in the arena was vastly different from the mood in 2016. We left the convention in 2016 a divided party; however, this convention was different. From Day 1, you could feel the joy in the air and see the unity amongst the delegates and attendees. After three days of intense programming, we entered the United Center on Thursday, ready to hear one special person speak: Vice President Kamala Harris.

One of the first speakers of the night was Luna Maring, a 6th grader from VP Harris's hometown of Oakland, California reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Then, we heard from educators and elected officials making the case for a Harris/Walz administration. Some notable and moving speakers for the night included The Honorable Dr. Yusef Salaam, Member of the New York City Council, Activist Korey Wise, Activist Raymond Santana, and Activist Kevin Richardson, also known as the Central Park Five or The Exonerated Five, five teenagers who were wrongly accused of rape. Donald Trump took out full-page ads calling for their execution, and although they have been exonerated, he has yet to apologize. We also heard from Courtney Baldwin, a youth organizer and human trafficking survivor. Courtney reminded us that VP Harris helped to shut down Backpages, a tool used in sex trafficking. We heard from The Honorable Lucy McBath, The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords, and Abbey Clements of Newton, Connecticut, Kim Rubio of Uvalde, Texas, Melondy McFadden of Charleston, SC, and Edgar Vilchez of Chicago, Illinois, all individuals who have intimate knowledge of the pain left behind by gun violence.

Speaker after speaker told us why they support Harris for President and why we should too. Then, we heard from the lady of the hour herself, The Honorable Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America. Over the course of about 35 minutes, VP Harris introduced us to herself and spoke on her humble upbringing. She talked about the values of community and faith. About not complaining about injustice but about doing something about it and never doing something half-assed. She talked about the lawyers who inspired her to pursue a career in law, Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley. She recounted the sad but powerful story of advocating for her high school friend who was being sexually abused by her stepfather and moving this friend into her home, one of her driving reasons for becoming a prosecutor. She talked about her past accomplishments of taking up for middle-class families against banks, working as a prosecutor against predators who abused women and children, and fighting drug and gun trafficking cartels. She made a case for why Donald Trump is dangerous and why "we are not going back." She laid out her policy positions both internationally and domestically. There is no doubt about where she stands and what she plans to do in her administration.

So, no matter what happens on November 5th, I feel good knowing we made our case and put another crack in the glass ceiling. And I feel good about putting my full support behind "Kamala Harris, for the people."

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