Howard College, a traditionally Black school in Washington, D.C., is known as the “Mecca.” Since 1867, it has been a gathering place for Black individuals within the U.S. and from all around the world. Amongst its alumni are former U.S. Supreme Court docket Justice Thurgood Marshall and Vice President Kamala Harris. It was the placement the place Harris selected to present her concession speech on Wednesday.
I used to be there overlaying the occasion, but it surely wasn’t my first time visiting Howard’s campus. Whereas attending school at Syracuse College in New York, my mates and I took highway journeys annually to Howard’s homecoming, which simply celebrated its one hundredth anniversary in October. However the jubilant ambiance that often surrounds occasions on The Yard, the primary quad on campus, was changed by a sombreness on Wednesday as crowds gathered to listen to her concession speech.
Folks of all ages and races stood on campus the place remnants from election night time have been nonetheless seen. Many have been Black girls who had attended Harris’s watch celebration on Tuesday night time and had returned regardless of not getting a lot sleep.
“I really feel like if I’m gonna be right here to have fun along with her, then I additionally needs to be right here when she’s accepting her loss on this case,” Gaelyn Smith, 26, a D.C.-native, stated.
This kind of help has buoyed Harris’s marketing campaign since its outset when some 44,000 individuals swamped a Zoom name organized by Win With Black Girls founder Jotaka Eaddy. That decision and coinciding ones raised $1.6 million in a single night.
Smith says she additionally voted for Clinton in 2016, and the loss feels comparable. “A while from now, possibly I’ll really feel hopeful, possibly I’ll really feel completely different,” Smith stated.
Sheryl Estrada
Deborah, (who didn’t share her final identify), a Black lady in her 70s, and a second-generation native Washingtonian, was at Harris’s concession speech as nicely.
”I felt like this was a great way to convey closure for myself,” she informed me. She additionally introduced her younger grandson, making it his first political occasion. “The potential for having Kamala Harris as our president simply meant the world to me,” she stated.
Relating to the following 4 years, Deborah stated she has each hope and dread.
“I hope that we are able to see one thing completely different than what we’ve been proven all through Donald Trump’s marketing campaign,” she stated. “However due to the best way he ran his marketing campaign, and the individuals who encompass him, that kind of leaves me with a bit of feeling of dread of what may come.”
Ready for Harris to take the stage, I additionally heard the “Skee-Wee” name as members of her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc greeted one another. Based in 1908 at Howard, it now has greater than 1,000 chapters in 11 nations and all 50 U.S. states.
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When Harris took the stage and started her speech simply earlier than 4:30 p.m. the somber crowd started cheering voraciously, however many additionally shed tears. Harris stated accepting the election result’s “a basic precept of American democracy,” along with loyalty to the U.S. Structure, conscience and God.
“I do know many individuals really feel like we’re getting into a darkish time,” she stated throughout the speech. “However for the good thing about us all, I hope that isn’t the case. However right here’s the factor, America, whether it is, allow us to fill the sky with the sunshine of a superb, good billion of stars — the sunshine of optimism, of religion, of fact and repair.”
As I used to be taking notes, at one level, I put down my pen and pad to consolation a younger supporter who started weeping. Attendees gathered round her with phrases of consolation: “It’s going to be okay” and “We’ve acquired this.”
Though supporters grappled with their aspirations for a Harris presidency coming to an finish, there was a way of resilience whereas exiting The Yard, and feeling that the history-making there’ll solely proceed.
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