By: Jasmine Gates
Changing Our Narrative
Madame Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, a Black woman, HBCU educated, member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and the first woman in the history of America to be elected as such. As a Black woman myself there’s an initial feeling of gratitude, not at all to America but to God. For allowing us to see this moment, knowing America’s track record as it relates to us and understanding that what Malcolm X said decades ago is still very true today.
As a result, it is imperative that we control the narrative that will be written in our history and received globally. I remember doing an interview at the East African Television Network in Tanzania and being asked, “If Obama and Oprah were able to reach their levels of success, hasn’t America changed?”
We must make this message very clear, as we are aware of not only the history of America but most importantly its current position. We must be careful not to confuse achieving what once may have seemed impossible with this idea that America is losing its trademark of racism and anti-Blackness. Make no mistake, black people carried this election to the result we have arrived at. So, the piece that is changing is that we as Black people are rediscovering the leverage we have in this country.
I personally saw Black women all over the country mobilizing the way our grandparents did, but virtually. I saw us navigating a pandemic, gaining control over our emotions in the midst of social unrest and politically engaging other women, men, and young adults who once believed their votes didn’t count. I can’t help but believe the mere image of a Black woman possibly becoming Vice President was a strong force behind those efforts.
With this momentum comes this feeling of cautious hope. Not to be confused with the hope wrapped in trust that swept the Black community when former President Barack Obama took office in 2008. This hope is wrapped in expectancy. We have shifted the political climate and took the term “Black Vote” from being a tool they used to appease us through our entertainers and stereotypes, to now being the actual deciding factor in the most controversial election to date.
So what does it mean to now have a Black female as Vice President? To Black women, it is the confirmation and manifestation of the faith our grandmothers held. Politically, as of right now I’m not sure what it means. There are so many eager to say there’s a wave of change on the way but today I cannot say I fully believe that. Now I am expecting it, however, our trust must now come with a price. For the Black community this is a heat check, will we take the same dormant position we sat in from 2008-2016 or will we hold this new administration accountable demanding a return on the investments made by us to get them elected?
All in all this is no time to be complacent. We are now at the foot of another mountain in a new era with so much work to be done. The beautiful takeaway is that we as the Black community showed ourselves, most importantly, that when we come together we have so much power.
