Black women and men are standing on the front line to back Kamala Harris‘ 2024 presidential campaign. Earlier this week, Black men in particular raised $1.3 million in donations for the Vice President.
As Blavity reported, the organization Win With Black Women spearheaded a call on July 21, the same day President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the upcoming presidential election. The WWBW collective not only discussed issues affecting Black women, but it raised funds for Harris’ campaign. The Zoom call had 44,000 participants — and they made history by accumulating $1.5 million in just three hours.
Inspired by the assembly of the group, journalist Roland Martin and his Black Star Network joined the cause with a “Win With Black Men” call the next day, according to Essence. Over 20,000 Black men participated in the call with 17,000 of them donating to Harris’ campaign.
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Soon after the rally began, it was already at capacity, which led Martin to livestream it on YouTube so that others could participate. Elated about how the call with the men nationwide went, he tweeted the following: “I have no words. And not just because I’m tired. My @BlkStarNetwork just told me that 53,862 people registered for our #WinWithBlackMen video call. We raised $1.3M and counting from 17,000 donors.”
Per Essence, Martin said all the money collected “will go to the Harris campaign, as well as to grassroots organizations run by Black men in battleground states.”
Special guests included celebrities, community leaders and government officials, including Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock.
“This moment will go down in history when the brothers got together to say we are all in for the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris,” Warnock said, according to Essence.
He added, “Don’t let anybody slow us down asking the question ‘Can a Black woman be elected president of the United States.’ Kamala Harris can win. We just have to show up. History is watching us, and the future is waiting on us.”
Sharing Warnock’s sentiments, Moore spoke on the power of collaboration.
“When we mobilize, we win. We move mountains,” he said. “For Kamala Harris, who has stood by us, lifted us up, and supported us, it is important that she knows that she has an army behind her.”
Bakari Sellers, a CNN political analyst and former South Carolina politician, also spoke to the importance of Black men uplifting Harris at this time despite any differences in perspectives given the current political climate.
“Let’s protect Kamala. Let’s be with her like she was there for us,” Sellers said on the call. “We are going to disagree a lot. But let’s put the petty bickering aside. Let’s stand up and be the Black men who change this country. We built this country. I’m rocking with Kamala.”
