Biden picks Kamala Harris - can she be the difference the Democrats need to win in November?

words by Charles Brooks

After nearly 5 months of waiting, the suspense is finally over. On August 11th, Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden made history naming Kamala Harris, former 2020 presidential candidate and current US Senator (D-CA), as his Vice-President. 

The announcement unleashed a level of excitement and enthusiasm unseen since Barack Obama seized the White House back in 2008.  But in less than a week, Ms. Harris already came under attack as Trump’s team resurrected the racist conspiracy “birther” question around her eligibility for the VP post while social and mainstream media interrogates her racial identity and political ambition while publishing racist cartoon images and memes. 

Hillary wins...and the black vote loses

By Charles Brooks

The South Carolina primary was to be a test of black vote for both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders – and the black vote lost.  Despite Hillary Clinton’s commanding win in South Carolina with record turnout from black voters, the 2016 election cycle is slowly shaping up to be yet another lost opportunity – another disappointment. Exit poll data shows blacks made up 61% of the electorate, voted for Clinton 84%-16% while 82% came from black men and 89% from black women.

There continues to be an obsession with the black vote by the Democratic Party as black voters still have yet to realize the magnitude of their vote. The exit data shows a lock step approach largely driven by whether Hillary Clinton is “electable” or if she’s the “lessor of two evils”.  An approach that sidelines the black voter unable to build any leverage.  So what goes unnoticed is the spectacle the 2016 primaries have become that’s largely driven by two critical issues for the black voter.  The very public display of Clinton’s naked pursuit of the black vote on one hand and on the other hand, a base of black voters whose allegiance to the Clinton campaign shows no signs of eroding.