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When Joe Biden announced that Kamala Harris was going to be his vice president selection there was not a consolidated show of support throughout the Black community. As Black people, we did what we have been trained to do since slavery — decide that Kamala Harris is not “Black enough.” We immediately began to discuss her record as a California District Attorney, Attorney General and U.S. Senator, and how her prosecutorial and legislative records have not been in favor of people of color, more importantly, Black people.

I am not going to pretend that I was always enthused with her stances on many issues that impact the Black community. But, I also will not pretend that my dismissal of her power and promise in such a distinguished position doesn’t make me, as a Black woman, her enemy and that I wholeheartedly refuse to do. I yearn for more in my own life and want to use her status to drive home the fact that Black girl magic really does exist. Or, our most prevalent communal thought, “when one of us makes it, we all do!”

I am not writing this piece to defend any of Senator Harris’s policies, but to try to understand why she may have made some of the decisions she did. I do not pretend to know why she made the choice to make truancy a crime in California, costing impoverished families thousands of dollars in fees. But what I do know, as a teacher in the Dallas Independent School District that is responsible for more than half of the truancy cases across the great, big state of Texas, sometimes, someone has to identify a problem and put a stern plan in place to change the trajectory. As Black people, we have been programmed to believe that we must make the difficult choices and stand on them! It seems as though that is exactly what she did. Maybe, just maybe, some of her choices were necessary trouble.

We cannot negate the facts. Kamala Harris isn’t just a woman. She isn’t just an Asian woman. She is a Black woman! Her career path was not smooth. She wasn’t just offered a seat at the table. She had to take it! We cannot afford to pretend that we don’t recognize that Black people, especially Black women, have to make themselves standout, appear tough and go against the grain to even get noticed. Yet, we want to chastise Kamala Harris for doing those things throughout her career. There is no way you have the ability to toss your hat into the presidential ring, as a Black woman, if you have not held your own against the “good ole boys.”

Now that we have addressed her many shortcomings, let’s dig deep and see if we can find anything good to say about the Senator. She graduated from a prestigious historically Black college university, Howard University, and pledged to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Is that Black enough for you? While attending the University of California-Hastings to attain her law degree, she was the President of the Black Law Student Association. Does that get her invited to the barbecue? She co-authored the COVID-19 Bias and Anti-Racist Training Act to address health inequities for minority groups and pioneered reentry initiatives for convicts. Does that make her understand the Black experience? You know the one that we claim is not monolithic, until we need it to be.

This is much more significant than the talk about making history, if Kamala Harris becomes the first female vice president. She will become the first Black female vice president. This is about the young Black girl that lives in an impoverished community whose aspirations do not seem attainable because of the “color label” she was assigned at birth. We need to decide as Black people if the mantras we yell and sell truly matter. Black girls rock and Black girl magic are awesome hashtags but, we have the opportunity to make them a reality in a country that has oppressed us for centuries. And in true Black fashion, we decide to remain oppressed.

There are white Americans who have historically voted Republican that are strongly considering voting for the Democratic ticket because they have been made privy to the egregious disparities and practices against Blacks in America. But, if we do not support our own, why should they? Black Americans, it is Carpe Diem time: seize the day! An opportunity like this may not come along again. Do we really want to jeopardize this historical moment right now? The more we become educated about government and politics, we must learn that her seat gives us someone to truly hold accountable. We can make Black issues significant and ensure they are at the forefront of the political agenda.

As a history teacher in one of the most impoverished areas of Dallas, Texas,  in the South Oak Cliff, 75216 zip code, I want to be the voice that erupts on November 4 as I empower my students to believe that they can become anything they desire. I can teach them to create expectations of everyone and expand their understanding of the power of government in eradicating the tremendous obstacles that prevent them from embracing the many opportunities that are afforded to their white counterparts. There is a Kamala Harris sitting in my classroom who needs to understand her worth, her ability, her undeniable power. Don’t take that away from her because we are too naïve to see the forest for the trees, if you know what I mean.

Is Kamala Harris perfect, absolutely not? But nor has any white man been that has occupied that very office. This is our time! After centuries of asking to be seen, to be validated, to be affirmed, it is happening. So, we cannot be the people who get in their own way because we want to pick apart our own. Joe Biden has made many missteps regarding Black people throughout this campaign. He is in great need of someone to pull his coattail so he gets it right. Who better than a Black woman to do that job?

Right now we have a President leading the country with absolutely no political experience. His greatest claim to fame is the firing of celebrities on a reality TV show, yet we are taking the time to eviscerate Kamala Harris at every turn. We have to get it together. We have to come together. We have to fight together! Black people, more explicitly, Black women are the heart and soul of the Democratic party. If we get out and vote and support our sister, we can really make some noise! Are we ready to make good, necessary noise? I think we are.