On Election Day, The TRiiBE spoke with Black elders in Chicago about what it means to witness a Black woman run for president. If elected, Vice President Kamala Harris would become the first woman, first Black woman and first Asian-American president of the U.S., and the second African-American president after Barack Obama.
Having lived through the segregation and discriminatory voting practices of the past, Black Chicagoans ages 60 and older said they are hopeful Harris will win the 2024 presidential election — not because of the color of her skin, but because she is the right person for the job, who just happens to be Black.
While speaking about their experiences with voting in the past and today, many of the voters we interviewed touched on the infamous poll taxes of the Jim Crow South and the historic significance of today’s moment with Harris
Harris marks just the 11th Black woman to run for the highest position in the land since 1968. Charlene Mitchell was the first Black woman to run for president on the Communist Party ticket, two years before Shirley Chisholm ran more notably for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972, according to History.com. Like Harris, Chisholm was the child of immigrants, born and raised in the U.S.
The voters in this story said they expect Harris to come out on top due to the tense political environment and having a strikingly polarizing opponent in former president Donald Trump.
Jessilean Rainer, 77, West Pullman Park
The TRiiBE: What does it mean to you to see a Black woman run for president?
Everything. And I tell my kids, “Oh, this is our time, and unless we move on it, it’s gonna pass us by.” So I’m excited, and I’m wishing [Harris] the best. I’m hopeful that she’s our next president. We know that she can’t come in and solve all of our problems, but at least put your good foot forward and get behind her and keep her supported.
Can you tell me the first time you voted? Do you remember that moment and what it was like compared to this election?
That’s been a long, long time ago. Things were not this complicated or chaotic. I saw all of the corruption. Where[as] before, I thought corruption was still there, but it wasn’t open. Now, things are, like, in your face. Trump brought out the worst in the worst.
What makes this moment different from when Shirley Chisholm ran for president?
When Shirley ran, it didn’t give me that same drive as with Kamala running. Now I don’t know if it’s because of all the bad taste with Trump that is shining a better light on her. I think that’s what it is because he has created such an ill feeling.
What gives you hope that Kamala will win?
It’s not that I’m prejudiced and she’s Black and I’m Black; I think we need a change, and Trump is not the person who’s going to give it to us. So with Kamala running, same as Obama, there’s hope that people can unite on one accord.
Ned Wilson, 83, West Pullman Library
Do you think this election in particular will be more historic in any way? Why or why not?
It is very historic; the American Constitution is at stake.
What does it mean to vote for a Black woman to potentially be president?
What it means to vote for a Black woman, or a person at all, is integrity. She’s a person with integrity.She just happened to be Black, but she has integrity.
Do you remember when you first voted and what the political climate was like compared to now?
1959. I’m from the South, and challenges to voting have always been a problem. See, I was from an era where Black people had to pay a poll tax to be able to vote. My dad and some of his friends would pay for people who couldn’t afford to pay just so they had a right to vote. So yeah, voting has always been important to me.
What are your hopes and outcomes for this election?
My hopes and my prayers are that a rapist and criminal not be allowed to sit [in the White House]. How can you run for the presidency? That’s why I say there’s something basic wrong about the Constitution that needs to be addressed. It served its purpose well, but they never considered [the possibility of a convicted person running for president] and that’s why it needs revision.
BM*, 75, West Pullman Park
* (This voter asked for anonymity due to fear of retaliation during this tense election cycle)
What does it mean to you to see a Black woman run for president?
It’s awesome because what I think about is that, as easy as it may seem for us to walk to the polls to vote or rise to the polls to vote, it was not always easy. And so, I think we have to keep that in mind if we think it’s OK not to vote.
I think we have to think of our ancestors and how hard it was for them, and even me, when I was younger. We all should vote.
Do you remember the first time you voted?
I kind of, sort of remember the first time I voted, but more importantly, I can remember the first time that my grandfather voted, who lived to be 104 years old, who died in 1988. I remember my aunt taking him to vote, and all the things that they had to go through to vote, having IDs and signatures and stuff. That was in the South.
What makes this moment different from when Shirley Chisholm ran for president?
I remember when Shirley Chisholm ran, she actually came to my small town in North Carolina, and the small town newspaper did not even report that she was in town. She was at a church, a predominantly Black church, and the newspaper did not even report it. So times have changed.
Judnita Montgomery, 63, West Pullman Park
How does it feel to cast a ballot for what could be the first Black woman president?
It’s encouraging to young people like my granddaughter. She knows there’s hope for her. I mean, it was great when Obama got in office [and] now to see a Black woman, but what bothers me is to know that some women are not voting for her when [Trump] wants to take away rights for women. I really don’t understand it.
Did you ever think that you’d witness a Black woman being in this position?
No, I did not. I remember when former President Obama got into office, and how so many people like my grandfather, who was, like, in his 90s, cried to see a Black man that they never thought would get in office, and now we’re gonna see a Black woman.
Charles Talbert, 66, Martin Luther King Community Service Center
Can you tell me your thoughts about the historic importance of this election?
I lived through the basics of the Civil Rights [Movement]. I was born in 1958. Growing up, I saw some of the atrocities firsthand. I lived through the riots, etc, and I really thought all of that was behind us. I didn’t think I’d live out my senior years, experiencing and seeing the degree of racism and hatred that, quite frankly, Trump’s campaign and those who support him are now putting out on the main stage. So this was very important to me to be counted because we can’t go back to that.
What does it mean to vote for a Black woman in this race?
It makes me feel hopeful. I never thought for a minute that a woman would not be capable of running the United States of America. You look at other countries, you look at prime ministers, you look at other presidents, females have been in leadership for as long as we’ve been around. [This] a hang-up that America has, a hang-up that men have, and in many instances, a hang-up that Black men have. I’m not one of those. I was raised by a single mother. I know what women can do. They are fierce and they are powerful.
Do you remember the first time you voted?
I don’t. I remember voting the year that Jesse Jackson was on the ballot [in 1988], because I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t think he was ready. But I really can’t remember exactly when I first started, and I certainly wish I had it all to do over again, because I understand where we are today, where[as] the younger generation says, “Well, we really don’t have to focus on that.” That’s what I thought [when I was young]. But now I’m here at age 66, sitting in this walker. I should have been focused on it all along.
What makes you hopeful that Harris will win?
In three months time, she has traversed this country, back and forth. She has talked to the LGBTQ community. She’s talked to Black folks. She’s talked to white folks. She’s talked to Republicans. She has left no stone unturned.
I think she has bent over backward to tell folks what it is she stands for. Did she get off to the best start? Maybe not, but she had three months. [Trump’s] been campaigning forever and we still knew more detail in three months with her than we’ve known with him in a year. So, yes, I think that she has done her homework. But more importantly, I think she echoes what, at the very least, our community needs.
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