Vice President-elect Kamala Harris strode out to deliver a victory speech on Saturday night with the powerful singing of Mary J. Blige (no, not Beyoncé) playing alongside her, an apt lead-up to the Senator’s remarks that specified the role of Black women in securing the win for her and Biden.
Dressed in a fresh white suit, the nation’s next Vice President spoke of Black women who are “too often overlooked, but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy,” reports CNN.
Harris also didn’t shy away from acknowledging what her rise represents in the continuing fight for gender equity, saying “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”
The projected 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, followed Harris’ remarks by jogging onto the stage, reflecting the optimistic energy that in the near-future America will not be run by a lazy and indecent megalomaniac.
Biden, too, made a definitive call-out to Black voters in his speech:
From Business Insider:
“Especially at those moments when this campaign was at its lowest ebb, the The African American community stood up again for me,” Biden said, repeatedly slamming his fist on the podium as the crowd erupted in cheers. “You’ve always had my back, and I’ll have yours.”
Black voters, particularly in key cities such as Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia, were a critical factor in Biden’s success. Exit polls revealed that 87% of Black voters backed Biden compared to just 12% for President Donald Trump, though they also indicated that Trump had improved his standing among Black voters compared to 2016.
On Saturday evening, Biden spoke to an ecstatic drive-in crowd in Wilmington, Delaware, thanking all of his supporters, calling for unity, and praising what he called “the broadest and most diverse coalition in history.”
Hopefully the emphatic manner in which Biden thanked the Black community for showing up for him, through the primaries up to the general election, will be reflected in the way he governs as president.
Speaking of emphatic, people across the country took to the streets in celebration on Saturday after the news of the Biden-Harris victory broke.
In New York and Philadelphia, mask-clad revelers blew their car horns, sang, and danced in joy at the prospect of booting Donald Trump from the White House:
At Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House in Washington D.C., the diverse coalition of supporters that Biden referenced in his speech celebrated his win in diverse ways—some danced the Wobble, while others sang “Sweet Caroline:”
No matter how the crowd in different cities chose to celebrate, a common refrain heard sung across them was, “na na na na, na na na na, hey, hey, hey...Goodbye!”
And that says it all, doesn’t it?