In a recent NY Mag piece about Senator Kamala Harris, while making a visit to Spelman College, she shared a piece of advice she was given that means big things not just for her future, but for that of other black women: My mother used to tell me, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things. Make sure you are not the last.’”
This is a clear reference to the back that Harris is the only currently black female senator, and only the second ever to do so. However, she has quietly been working on supporting a growing a wide amount of young people of color running for office, many of them being women. “I do feel a responsibility. It’s about paying it forward: other people did it for me, and it’s kind of like, this is what you do. It’s not whimsical. It’s — literally, I feel — a duty.” However, for all of this work, this is one thing Harris does that she tends not to publicize.
What Brooklyn’s First Black Elected Official Learned From Alexander Hamilton
The final result? A group of young, diverse candidates that have a set loyalty to Harris, something that naturally creates thoughts to 2020 and her own political ambitions. One Democratic fundraiser who is fully supportive of a Harris 2020 campaign said he’d heard other fans speak of the group as an obvious political asset. However, Harris says that this is a cynical way to see things. For example, one of her mentees is London Breed, the current mayor of San Francisco.
Source: Kamala Harris’s Plan For A Network For Black Candidates
