Sept. 10. 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - When Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president in 2021, she swore her oath of office on two Bibles.

One belonged to our nation’s first Black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Marshall, the civil rights giant who founded the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, inspired a generation that included Harris to embrace the law as a means to advancing equality and justice. Harris chose to attend Howard University, Marshall’s alma mater.

The other Bible on which Harris was sworn in was the family Bible of Regina Shelton. Shelton was a neighbor, trusted caretaker, and mentor to Vice President Harris and her little sister Maya as children after school when her mom was working. Harris refers to Shelton as her “second mother.” It was Harris’s actual mother Shyamala Gopalan who guided and encouraged that relationship. 

A civil rights activist herself, Gopalan was keenly aware that the world would see and treat her biracial daughters as Black women and of what that meant in America. She knew it was important for the girls to bond with other Black girls and women. Regina Shelton was from Louisiana, part of the migration of African Americans from Jim Crow South. Shelton shared her perspective on Black culture and identity, took the Harris girls to church, taught them to cook soul food, and inspired them with stories of important Black female leaders. She was one of the people who exemplified and passed on to both Harris girls “a responsibility to give and serve,” according to the vice president. 

That responsibility to give and serve was also influenced by Vice President Harris’s sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Founded at Howard,AKA has been on the front lines of fights for social justice for more than a century. AKA members organized to stop lynchings, advocate for women’s rights, staff health clinics in rural Black communities, offer job training programs, and more. AKA charted the path for other Black sororities and fraternities to become more active in the civil rights movement when it became a permanent member of the NAACP in 1939. As AKA international president and CEO Danette Anthony Reed puts it: “Whether it’s social activism, advocacy for civil rights, building economic wealth, impacting our communities, we make a positive change.”

Vice President Harris’s dedication to service was not only inspired by her personal relationships and affiliations. Her chosen path as a lawyer was shaped by important icons who embodied a commitment to freedom, justice, and equity. Justice Marshall was one of them. Another one was Judge Thelton E. Henderson. 

Before becoming a legendary judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern California District, Henderson was the first African American lawyer to serve in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He was a field investigator, working alongside Dr. King and other movement leaders. He was famously fired for loaning Dr. King his government rental car in Alabama because Dr. King’s car had a problem with a tire and Henderson feared for King’s safety if he got stranded. From the bench, Judge Henderson understood the importance of protecting human dignity for all people, and that the Constitution guaranteed fundamental rights even to those who much of our society shunned and did not accept. His judicial philosophy was shaped by wisdom, experience and an understanding of the law’s role in protecting people that naturally allowed room for empathy. 

Judge Henderson defended the of prisoners who were being abused and denied adequate health care. He made the Oakland Police Department more accountable to federal monitoring over police brutality. He was the first judge in the country to recognize the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and due process rights for gay people – decades before the Supreme Court recognized same-sex couples’ right to marry. Judge Henderson is widely celebrated by conservationists for saving dolphins from drowning in tuna nets. And he wrote a decision that in effect made the San Francisco Bay Area meet federal air quality requirements. 

A fierce defender of civil rights, a champion of the law’s role in protecting the vulnerable and marginalized, who understands the importance of laws and regulations that protect our environment and health. That description applies to both Thelton Henderson and Vice President Harris – and that is no coincidence.

Over our 20-year friendship, I have witnessed firsthand how the powerful lessons from these mentors continue to guide Vice President Harris in her commitment to justice and service. And I am grateful to all the influences who helped shape and instill that commitment.  

Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

August 11, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - It is no surprise that police officers who protected the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attacks are now hitting the campaign trail for Vice President Kamala Harris: former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, and current Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel “Danny” Hodges testified before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack and are now joining the Democratic campaign with stops in Michigan, North Carolina, and Georgia. According to the Harris-Walz campaign, the officers are meeting with elected officials and community leaders to highlight the urgent and immediate threat that former President Donald Trump poses to democracy.

Dunn said that on prior trips, it was clear that even some local reporters he spoke with didn’t fully understand what happened on Jan. 6. “Honestly, everybody doesn’t know. We assume that people know, living here, but in middle America, the average American, the regular voter, [it’s about] getting them to understand that Donald Trump is a biggest threat to our democracy,” Dunn said. “People really don’t understand what happened on that day, and to be able to tell them as a firsthand witness, it’s kind of refreshing and it’s encouraging that people are willing to be receptive.”

For their actions on that historic day, Dunn and each member of the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department are American heroes because Jan. 6 could have been much worse. They were public servants who made personal and professional sacrifices to ensure no lawmakers were harmed. Unfortunately, Dunn’s comments show that despite credible news reporting and the public congressional oversight hearings and available facts, too many people remain misinformed regarding supporters of then-President Donald Trump, who attacked the U.S. Capitol. Despite the contrast of having a prosecutor versus a felon, millions of people have decided to support the felon as the next U.S. president. This begs the question: How can the Republican Party, with any credibility, claim to be the party of “law and order” while a convicted felon awaits sentencing as its party’s nominee? Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims that members of the Republican Party have told her they want to see Donald Trump and J.D. Vance defeated in the 2024 presidential election. “The Republican Party has been hijacked, and it’s now a cult, and they should take it back because the republic needs a strong Republican Party,” Pelosi said in a recent interview with MSNBC.

According to Pelosi, some Republicans have approached her, saying, “You have to beat them in the general because we can’t beat them in the primary. And then we will come back to our debate on the issues.” There are Republicans who privately are separate from the MAGA extremism and genuinely want to clean house and start over with a new Republican Party. To do that, they need to become Harris Republicans when they vote in November.

One cannot say Republicans didn’t have their chance to rid themselves of Trump during his second presidential impeachment. Only seven Republican senators publicly joined the Democrats in voting to convict Trump, falling 10 votes shy of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution. If Trump loses, will there be a peaceful transfer of power? Republicans cannot have it both ways. On the one hand, they want him to lose, but on the other hand, this is not the time to be partisan by remaining silent when warning signs show the potential of a fair election not being properly certified. A new rule in Georgia could allow some local election boards to refuse to certify results, raising concerns about the November election in a critical swing state. This should be a red flag for Republicans who are looking to the results of the general election to solve their “Trump” problem. Joining the Harris bandwagon is fine for the sake of saving the future of democracy, but will Republicans for Harris go as far as to join Democrats in speaking out in real-time when democracy is threatened before our eyes?   

 In a word, the Harris-Walz campaign is inspiring. She has not only excited her Democratic base but also encouraged and uplifted those Republicans who felt democracy was slipping away in the same manner as their Republican Party. Timing is everything. The 2020 version of Joe Biden was able to beat Donald Trump, but the same could not be said about the 2020 version of Kamala Harris. Polls in 2024 show the reverse is true. With the enthusiasm and excitement surrounding the Democratic ticket, people are sensing this as the perfect opportunity not only to defeat Trump in the presidential election but also to start the dismantling of any long-lasting effects from the MAGA movement. Trump, who may have underestimated a Harris candidacy, could likely see the same thing. He gives himself away when he tells a crowd of Christian supporters that if they vote for him this November, “in four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.”

Many Republicans may truly be persuaded to vote for Harris in 2024, but they were uninformed and seemingly did not understand what happened on Jan.6. Do they fully understand what just happened in Georgia? If Republicans want Harris to win, they cannot remain blind to the tricks Trump plays.

David W. Marshall founded the faith-based organization TRB: The Reconciled Body and is the author of the book God Bless Our Divided America.

August 5, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - It is rare for a sitting U.S. president to step aside and not run for reelection. The magnitude of this type of decision cannot be easy for any individual to make, especially when faced with heavy personal and political consequences. Lyndon Johnson made the tough decision in 1968, and Joe Biden did the same in 2024. Both leaders were seasoned elder statesmen during their time in the U.S. Senate. They served as vice presidents, eventually becoming U.S. Presidents. Johnson and Biden achieved major legislative achievements as presidents stemming from their dealmaking experience as Senate lawmakers. Both leaders fought for interests critical to the Black community during their respective terms in the White House. The policy continuity question must be asked whenever there is a change in the White House from one administration to the next. Presidents are human beings who evolve personally and politically over time, even throughout their terms in office. This often occurs based on the wise counsel and advice they may receive within their administration or from the community at large. Whenever we cast our ballots in presidential elections, we must be mindful that a president’s successor may not champion the positive gains made during the previous administration.

Despite initial differences, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln forged a relationship throughout the Civil War based on a shared vision. Fifteen years after Lincoln’s death, Douglass described him as “one of the noblest, wisest, and best men I ever knew.” Lincoln was willing to eventually listen to a Black man despite being a product of his past environment. Lincoln’s assassination just after starting his second term prevented the continuity of racial awareness Lincoln received from Douglass when Vice President Andrew Johnson took over. As president, Johnson was unexpectedly tasked with the job of implementing Reconstruction. He favored a lenient version of Reconstruction and state control over voting rights while openly opposing the 14^th Amendment. Although Johnson supported the end of slavery, he was a white supremacist. “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men,” he wrote in 1866. The fight for full citizenship for Black Americans took a major step backward due to the succeeding Johnson administration’s unwillingness to embrace the vision shared by Douglass and Lincoln.

Where Lincoln had Douglass, Lyndon Johnson had Martin Luther King. Lyndon Johnson was a Southern racist who often used the N-word and was another product of his environment. With two decades in Congress, Johnson was a reliable member of the Southern bloc, helping to stonewall civil rights legislation. However, with the influence of Martin Luther King and other civil rights activists, Johnson became the greatest champion of racial equality to occupy the White House since Lincoln. Johnson also made history by nominating former NAACP Chief Counsel Thurgood Marshall as the first Black to serve as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

With all the excitement surrounding Vice President  Kamala Harris’s campaign, nothing should be taken for granted concerning her election. It will be a tough election to win. The November election is a battle for the future of our nation. Therefore, the Democrats must take a page out of Mitch McConnell’s playbook when it comes to the federal judiciary. McConnell knew that most of the contentious issues in our society would eventually be addressed by the courts. As Senate majority leader, McConnell strategically held up judicial nominations during the last two years of the Obama administration. When Donald Trump succeeded Obama, Trump was then able to fill the open vacancies with conservative federal judges at an accelerated pace. Trump had more than 100 vacancies in the lower courts, including 17 in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Where Lyndon Johnson had Martin Luther King in his ear, Joe Biden had Black women activists. In an open letter to Biden, more than 200 Black women called for him to select a Black woman as his running mate. He gave us Kamala Harris and fulfilled his promise to diversify the federal judiciary. Biden, like Mitch McConnell, intimately understood how the Senate process works. According to The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, President Biden has appointed 59 Black judges, including 38 Black women now serving lifetime appointments on the federal bench. More than 40% of these judges come to the bench with significant experience protecting and advancing civil and human rights. President Biden has appointed more Black lifetime judges than any previous president in a single term. No president has ever appointed a slate of judges consisting mostly of women or racial and ethnic minorities. This includes the first Black woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court –Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Before President Biden, only eight Black women had ever served at this level of our federal judiciary.

We have an opportunity with the election of Kamala Harris to continue the work Joe Biden started in diversifying the federal judiciary. It will also require keeping control of the Senate. As America went from President Lincoln, who listened and acted, to President Andrew Johnson, who stuck with the white supremacist program, the nation didn’t have a choice in Lincoln’s death. In November, we all have a choice.

David W. Marshall is the founder of the faith-based organization TRB: The Reconciled Body and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America.

July 22, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden during their first year in the White House.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – President Joe Biden has shocked the nation by withdrawing from his bid for a second term in the White House and immediately endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

The move has electrified the base and the backbone of the Democratic Party – Black voters and especially Black women. A level of enthusiasm and excitement have caught fire, drawing major endorsements for Harris as Biden support had seriously fizzled among party leaders.

At this writing, Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.); former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); former President Bill Clinton and former Senator Hillary Clinton are just a few of the string of power houses in the Democratic Party who have joined Biden in his endorsement of Harris. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday that he would be meeting with Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) before likely announcing an endorsement of Harris. Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama had not made an endorsement on Monday.

Within the first 48 hours of Biden’s announcement on Twitter that he was bowing out of the race against former President Donald Trump, at least $80 million in grassroots donations had poured into Harris’ campaign. That includes more than a million dollars raised during a Zoom call with more than 40,000 people Sunday night, reportedly to stress the importance of Black women in the get out to vote effort.

According to the Washington Informer, speakers on the call included Reps. Joyce Beatty, Maxine Waters, and Jasmine Crockett. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, civil rights leader Bernice King, and Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown were also on the call, according to the Informer.

A similar call with Black men was held Monday, July 22,  35,000 people. They reportedly raised over $1.2 million in just under three hours. The #WinWithBlackMen call was led by talk show host Roland Martin.

President Biden stunned the nation with his mid-day Sunday announcement of his withdrawal. He said he would have more to say this week. Still healing from a case of COVID-19 on Monday, he had not spoken publicly since releasing the letter amidst increasing pressure to drop out of the race. The pressure began following his poor CNN debate performance against Trump, who told a series of lies during the live broadcast June 27. Democrats had also increasingly complained that Biden, 81, is too old to run again although Trump, at 79, is not that much younger.

In Biden’s letter, declaring he was leaving the campaign, he listed a few of his major accomplishments, including appointing the first Black woman to the U. S. Supreme Court, gun safety legislation, affordable health care and climate legislation. He then stated, "It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

Biden continued in a separate statement to fellow Democrats, “I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this."

Biden received praises and applause across the nation from fellow Democrats and others who called his decision selfless.  The announcement from Biden, who had been rapidly losing support among fellow Democrats and prospective funders, appeared to set a fire that spread quickly at the prospects of the first Black woman president of the United States. Of African-American and South Asian decent, Harris is a former two-term state attorney general from California and a former U. S. senator who ran an unsuccessful race for president against Biden and a string of other candidates.  So far, no serious Democratic contender has announced a challenge to Harris who graciously accepted the nomination.

Support was growing so fast this week that Harris has already received enough Democratic support to win the nomination as the Democratic candidate. Unless another candidate enters and succeeds, Delegates at the Democratic National Convention, to be held Monday, Aug. 19-Thursday, Aug. 22, must cast ballots to confirm her official candidacy. Her big decision now is who will run with her as a vice presidential running mate.

The Harris candidacy comes on the heels of a Republican National Convention the week of July 16 that was deemed majorly successful largely due to an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump July 14. A bullet, shot from a high-powered rifle, by a  20-year-old White man, reportedly grazed his ear and killed another man in the crowd.

Harris spoke publicly for the first time on Monday since Biden’s endorsement. During a White House celebration of the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship Teams, she said, “Joe Biden’s legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history. In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office.”

Harris continued, “I first came to know President Biden through his son, Beau.  We worked together as attorneys general in our states.  And back then, Beau would often tell me stories about his dad.  He would talk about the kind of father and the kind of man that Joe Biden is. The qualities that Beau revered in his father are the same qualities that I have seen every day in our president: his honesty, his integrity, his commitment to his faith and his family, his big heart, and his love -- deep love -- of our country. And I am firsthand witness that every day our president, Joe Biden, fights for the American people.  And we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation.”