"With Harris's platform, it's as though my African-American experience has come out of the shadows"

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Kirsten Allen @knicole_a
"With Harris's national platform, it's as though my African-American experience has come out of the shadows. It's liberating."

From @POPSUGAR : Why Kamala Harris’s Presidential Candidacy Means So Much to Me as a Fellow HBCU Alum

Kamala Harris greets student leaders at Howard University, her alma mater, in January.

...(Kamala) Harris and I are around the same age, and black. She's my Soror (sorority sister) and we both pledged at an HBCU (short for Historically Black Colleges and Universities). We're members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA), the first Greek-letter organization established by African-American college women in 1908.

...I get the inevitable blank stare when I talk about my sorority or the undergraduate college I attended, both of which are deeply rooted in the African-American experience. It's something I have to explain, whether it's to a white, Latino, or Asian friend, neighbor, or colleague. This gets old quickly.

For those of us who pledged a black Greek-letter organization and/or went to an HBCU, there's a tremendous sense of pride in the legacy and traditions of these institutions. HBCUs were born from America's long history of segregation and offer a level playing field for African-Americans. Spending four formative years at an HBCU is like a shield from the racism we face in our professional lives as the "only" or the "other."

"I reference often my days at Howard to help people understand they should not make assumptions about who black people are," Harris once said in an interview about her experience at Howard University, her alma mater.

Harris doesn't shy away from talking about her African-American experience on the national stage. She's unapologetically black, while transcending the label of "black female candidate," and she's raising awareness of her African-American experience. She embodies a part of African-American culture not relegated to the usual stereotypes the dominant culture assigns to black people. With Harris's national platform, it's as though my African-American experience has come out of the shadows. It's liberating...

read more: https://www.popsugar.com/news/Did-Kamala-Harris-Go-to-HBCU-46442298

[ismnotwasm]

1. K&R

[wasupaloopa]

2. I am quietly waiting until the others have played out

their hands and we begin to see the potential greatness this country could be if Kamala Harris were President.

[Kind of Blue]

3. K&R, bigtree!

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4. K&R

[bluewater]

5. K&R

[MaeScott]

6. K and R

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7. .

[SunsetDreams2]

8. K&R nt