January 7th 2024.
On the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Vice President Kamala Harris used her appearance at the 7th Episcopal District AME Church Women’s Missionary Society annual retreat to remind the crowd of mostly Black women what is once again at stake in the November election.
“Three years ago today, on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob violently attacked the United States Capitol, they used brutal force and fear to try to overturn the results of a free and fair election,” she said. “They tried to overrule the votes of millions of Americans.”
Harris continued, urging the crowd not to “throw up our hands” and instead “roll up our sleeves” and recognize that “we were born for a time such as this, and we love our country.”
The event was billed as a White House event, but Harris touched on the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris Administration specific to the Black community. She even thanked the attendees for organizing their friends and family members to vote, as it was their help that led to Joe Biden becoming President of the United States.
Harris drew a comparison between her administration and the Republican Party, saying, “On one side, they want to ban books. On the other side, we want to ban assault weapons. They want the government to tell a woman what to do with her body. We trust women to know what is in their own interest.”
She implored the crowd to keep doing what they have been doing for generations, serving as defenders of American Democracy at home, saying, “In this moment, our nation once again needs your leadership. As you have done for generations, to defend our most sacred ideals, to continue to organize, energize and make your voices heard.”
The AME Church has a long, storied history, stretching back to the late 1700s. The Free African Society members like Richard Allen and Absalom Jones formed the church after a prayer service at St. George’s MEC was interrupted by white Methodists.
In 1794, Bethel AME was dedicated and Allen served as the church’s first Pastor. Eventually, the church spread across several states, including South Carolina, where it has become a major presence in cities like Charleston and Columbia.
The denomination’s influence is evident in the Biden-Harris campaign’s decision to move South Carolina to the front of their 2024 campaign calendar. This is likely due to the fact that South Carolina proved pivotal to Biden’s election in 2020, as well as the idea that a strong primary in South Carolina would reinforce the notion that Biden is still the preferred candidate of the Democratic Party’s core constituency of Black voters.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to appear and speak on Jan. 8 at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina. This is the site of the 2015 attack by white supremacist Dylan Roof in which he killed nine congregants during a Bible Study.
Vice President Harris has made history with her 33 tiebreaker votes, and the Golden Gavel has been presented to her in recognition of her achievements. As she told the audience at the Women’s Missionary Society retreat, “We trust women to know what is in their own interest.”
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