• Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • OTE – Screen Kings
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Best In Black Beauty 2023
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Kamala Harris Is The Right Leader At the Right Time
By ESSENCE guest editors · Updated January 18, 2021
Home · Only at ESSENCE

Kamala Harris Is The Right Leader At the Right Time

By ESSENCE guest editors·Updated January 18, 2021
With the inauguration days away, an open letter about the woman who will help run the nation from Donna Brazile, Leah Daughtry, Karen Finney, Star Jones and Minyon Moore

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of ESSENCE magazine, available on newsstands now.

Good things are going to start happening. And it’s you, the American voters, who made that so, with the election of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President–elect Kamala Harris.

January 20, 2021, will mark the end of one of the most damaging and divisive episodes in United States’ history. It will be a day that strengthens a movement committed not simply to repairing the recent devastation but to building a better, more just, more inclusive nation than we have ever had before.

If Joe Biden—with his many decades of working with the other side of the aisle to solve problems—represents the binding up of this nation’s most recently inflicted wounds, then our new Vice President, Kamala Harris, embodies the shimmering possibilities beyond that healing. She is an impressive combination of career, qualifications and competence. Her history as the first woman and first African American to hold the seats of district attorney of San Fran- cisco and attorney general of California, later to become a United States senator, is one of excellence and achievement. At every step of Kamala’s career, a solid 30 years, she has demonstrated a commitment to professionalism, progressive values and compassion.

Kamala Harris Is The Right Leader At the Right Time
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 27: Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., walks through the Senate Reception Room to the Senate chamber for the start of the Senate impeachment trial proceedings on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

She became a lawyer to take on the powerful people and special interests who prey on the vulnerable. She took on big banks that bilked homeowners, polluters who tried to poison communities, for-profit colleges that preyed on students, and transnational gangs. She also targeted rapists and child molesters. She has been a leader on criminal-justice reform and closing racial disparities in healthcare. She has always stood up for those who needed a voice.

If there is another hallmark of the vice president–elect’s career, it’s that so many stops along her way are described as “firsts.” She’s the child of immigrants—a mother from India and a Black father from Jamaica—and her achievements have resulted in the repeated shattering of glass ceilings.

With the love of learning that her parents, a biological researcher and a professor of economics, gave her, Kamala earned a degree in political science and economics from Howard University, a historically Black university in the nation’s capital. She has mentored and supported women of color throughout her career, living a core value her mother taught her: “You may be the first to do many things— make sure you’re not the last.” She has also rightly acknowledged and given voice to the truth that her story would not have been possible without the leader- ship of foremothers like Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, Fannie Lou Hamer and so many other great women.

Article continues after video.

It’s from that historic perspective of Kamala’s rise that her greatest value to her country is the most evident. An effective leader gets things done, and Kamala’s career has been a study in just that. But a great leader inspires others to do great things, too. Kamala’s story lends itself uniquely to that lofty task, as she brings the wealth of her lived experience and her truly American story into the spaces where our nation’s most con- sequential decisions are being made.

Yes, the work that Vice President–elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden will do in the coming months and years will benefit all Americans. But beyond that, the example Kamala sets for young people—for young Black women in particular—and for all young people of color will reverberate across schoolyards, in classrooms and in living rooms, as those she inspires grow up to be the leaders of tomorrow. She will become a beacon for a whole new generation—“whole” in the sense that all of the members of that generation will be included. And that will be the beginning of truly great things.

Signed by Donna Brazile, Leah Daughtry, Karen Finney, Star Jones and Minyon Moore

Donna Brazile is a veteran political strate- gist who served as former interim chair- woman of the Democratic National Committee. Brazile is a coauthor of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics.

Leah Daughtry, a nationally recognized organizer, political strategist and faith leader, was CEO of the 2016 and 2008 Democratic National Convention Commit- tees. Daughtry is a coauthor of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics.

Karen Finney is a leading Democratic strategist, political commentator and columnist. She specializes in the intersection of race, gender and politics. She served as senior advisor to Stacey Abrams in 2018 and as senior advisor and senior spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Star Jones is an attorney, advocate, award-winning television personality and Democratic National Surrogate and fundraiser.

Minyon Moore, a partner at the Dewey Square Group, was formerly CEO of the Democratic National Committee and served as director of White House political affairs under President Bill Clinton. Moore is a coauthor of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics.

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now