Kamala Harris Isn’t a Perfect Candidate, But We Don’t Need Perfect

Harris as a vice presidential pick is actually a good choice for Biden and the nation

Danielle Moodie
ZORA

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Photo: Alexander Drago/Getty Images

“Women must become revolutionary. This cannot be evolution but revolution.”

That is a quote from Representative Shirley Chisholm. In 1968, during the height of the civil rights movement, Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress. Four years later, she would be the first Black woman to run for president. As I watched social media burst into unbridled joy with the news of Senator Kamala Harris, a Black woman, being chosen as the vice presidential nominee for Joe Biden, I couldn’t help but think of the giant political shoulders upon which Harris stands: 2020 marks the first time a Black woman and a South Asian woman was selected to be the VP nominee of a major party.

It’s been 48 years since Chisholm’s historic bid for the presidency and since then, Black women have arrived back at the precipice of power — where we have always belonged but often been denied our rightful place. Through Harris’ nomination, the Democratic Party has signaled to the country — and to Black women in particular — that they know where the future is headed. We have heard ad nauseam about the impending demographic shift. We have seen through the…

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