“You have a right to vote, but you also have a right to leadership after that vote,” said feminist scholar Carole Boyce Davies of Harris’ ascension to the top of the ticket. “We have to be ready to see the new reality, and then to move with it.”
Within hours of the stunning decision by President Joe Biden to end his re-election campaign—and to follow this announcement with his subsequent endorsement of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, as his successor—the organization #WinWithBlackWomen stepped into action. After the group circulated a Zoom call, approximately 44,000 Black women gathered and raised over $1 million in three hours. Their counterpart, #WinWithBlackMen, followed suit, and the next night, a gathering of over 45,000 Black men matched these funds. The vice president now has one of the largest and fastest fundraising donations for a presidential candidate. Now, other groups are creating similar calls: “Latinas for Harris,” “South Asian Women for Harris” and “White Women for Harris.”
Such actions demonstrate how Black women’s leadership is unmatched. They were more than ready for this moment, as is the woman they have rallied around this election season. Vice President Harris has already shattered barriers as the first Black woman attorney general of the state of California, the second Black woman U.S. senator and the first woman and African American vice president of the United States. Her progressive politics—which includes co-authoring legislation such as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and championing reproductive rights and maternal health in her role as vice president—also offer us a glimpse into what her presidency might highlight around racial justice and women’s rights issues.
She is ready. We are ready. The world is ready. After all, Black women have a long history of effective leadership.
Ms. contributing editor Janell Hobson spoke with Black feminist scholar Carole Boyce Davies, who has authored several books on Black women’s politics, most recently Black Women’s Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power, which explores Black women’s roles as transformational leaders in the highest political positions and on the grassroots community levels. Feeling the optimism of the moment and the energy of a fired-up political base, this conversation reflects on the legacy, meanings and promises of Kamala Harris’ presidential run.
Janell Hobson: What inspired you to write a book on Black women’s leadership?
Carole Boyce Davies: I saw this as an area that really needed more scholarly attention, a big question in human rights discourse is leadership. You have a right to vote, but you also have a right to leadership after that vote. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is really clear about that: the right to vote, but also the right to have an involvement in the political life of your country.
The U.S. is technically behind on this question. Mexico had two women presidential candidates this year, so they would’ve gotten a woman leader in either case. But, if the U.S. wants to consider itself the world’s leader as it claims repeatedly, then it needs to step up and say, “We are not going to discriminate, but we’re also going to bring to the table all people with their own identities and histories.” And that’s what is happening.
I subtitled the book “Circularities of Power,” and this was revealed in what happened with Harris getting identified as the person who would succeed the current president. We assume that power is static, but we have to see power as circulating. This moment is a good example of how power circulated right in front of our eyes.
In other words, we cannot assume a hegemonic dominance that never shifts; there are sometimes moments or cracks in it, and this is a crack that pushes someone forward. We have to be ready to see the new reality, and then to move with it, and to really advance it—which is what Black women did in an amazing example of leadership, as we see taking place with all these calls. Even calling it a “call.” That happened also with the Sojourners for Truth and Justice, which was a call for Black women to move to action.
Hobson: Black women have often been at the forefront of our democracy throughout history in organizing and mobilizing their communities. We have the examples of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Mary Mcleod Bethune, Mamie Till-Mobley, Rosa Parks, Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer. And this year, we lost civil rights artist-activists Faith Ringgold and Bernice Johnson Reagon. What do you think it means for us now to not just be on the ground but doing leadership at the top in the role of president of the United States?
Boyce Davies: It’s going to be contradictory for sure because U.S. foreign policy can be very complicated. And I’m sure eventually somebody is going to ask for her position on some of those pressing issues like the Palestinian crisis. I think she has the potential to create a new paradigm of how we engage the world. And that’s going to be harder because that’s where she’s going to have the most pushback. But I think President Obama did try, for example, to have a little opening to Cuba. The different steps that one takes make a difference in the world.
Hobson: I think it’s significant that Vice President Harris is a daughter of immigrants, with Caribbean ties, so her approach to the Americas as a whole will be important to watch.
That reminds me of another legacy: that of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for president in a major political party, who was also a daughter of immigrants with Caribbean roots.
Boyce Davies: Shirley Chisholm, yes! I’m thinking of all those people like Shirley Chisholm and others who would love to see what is happening now. I actually voted for Shirley Chisholm at a really critical time. I put her name on the ballot! I always thought about how bold she was to say, “We should not assume that white men should be leaders all the time.” She said that repeatedly. That’s one of the reasons she was running, even if she failed. The goal was not to win but to be a challenge to the power structure.
Hobson: And sometimes we win! In your book Black Women’s Rights, you highlight a variety of powerful Black women world leaders. Whose leadership impresses you the most?
Boyce Davies: For me, it’s Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados. She is the one that I see, coming from a small place, entering the world stage and looking at the questions that affect her in her own country, the questions of climate change and economic stability and so on. And I love the fact that she does it in a very bold way without apology. She’s talking about a vulnerability index for countries that are struggling, that came out of colonization and still don’t have the kind of resources that allow them to really move forward.
If anybody is looking for a model for how to step on the world stage and not be afraid, not be intimidated into silence, she is that good example.
I’m thinking of all those people like Shirley Chisholm … I always thought about how bold she was to say, ‘We should not assume that white men should be leaders all the time.’
Carole Boyce Davies
Hobson: Another example of that, I think, is President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, the first woman head of state on the African continent. She’s someone who was ushered in by the women’s peace movement, led by fellow Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee, the same movement that effectively ended its country’s civil war.
Boyce Davies: She would be my second, for sure. I interviewed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for this book, and she was the one who said, “Yes, we want the power!” I was actually going to title the book “Yes, We Want the Power,” which would’ve probably been better for this moment that we are in now. But her position is that we should never step back if the opportunity comes for leadership, that we need to really step up and take it. Her point, though, is that you have to prepare yourself. You can’t just take leadership without knowing what you’re going to be doing. And as we all have seen, it can be a disaster without preparation.
But if you are already prepared, and you have a good sense of what should happen and the opportunity arises, in her view, Black women need to never shy away from that opportunity because we are bringing a whole different view of the world that can really make it better. And that’s where my previous scholarship on Claudia Jones comes in handy because Claudia Jones’s position was that when Black women move, the entire structure moves.
Hobson: What do you expect from a Kamala Harris presidency?
Boyce Davies: I expect her to represent her interests fully. Many people were disappointed with President Obama because they felt that, although he was wonderful, he didn’t really advocate for many of their interests. I’d like her to keep our interests in mind, even as she represents the interests of other communities.
I think the question of how she handles the border is going to have to be reworked, simply because it cannot just be looking at blocking people at the borders or telling them, “Don’t come,” but finding a way to help those other countries to not be so strapped that their people have to leave.
Cuba is a good example, because if you can get Cuba stabilized and you’re not really blockading them for so long, then you don’t have these economic conditions, which then create the impetus for people to leave and try to come to the United States. In representing various interests, she will need to look regionally to see how we can really improve the Americas so we don’t have some of these issues that plague us continuously. And then after that, managing the state in the ways that she’s going to have to. And of course, she’s strong on women’s rights. I mean, it would be sad to have a woman as a leader and women’s rights are not a priority. But, that is not happening. She is already talking about those issues.
There is a certain irony that the day that she had the largest fundraising in presidential history within 24 hours was also the same day a video was released showing police killing Sonya Massey in her own home.
Janell Hobson
Hobson: There are so many who are energized by seeing a Black woman at the top of the presidential ticket. But there are also just as many who are worried and think the racism and misogyny in this country—or misogynoir specifically as it affects Black women—could impact her having a successful presidential run. There is a certain irony that the day that she had the largest fundraising in presidential history within 24 hours was also the same day a video was released showing police killing Sonya Massey in her own home. People have their reasons to be concerned, but what gives you hope in this moment?
Boyce Davies: It’s a contradiction we live in, isn’t it? That in the middle of joy, you have these other things taking place, but you can’t let it deter you from moving forward. What gives me hope? Just the rapidness of the possibility of historical change. And it probably is a moment that we will hold onto and cherish. Because I think up until a week ago, people were feeling very hopeless. And then suddenly, they switched completely.
Hobson: How do you think Kamala Harris can avoid the twin pitfalls of the glass ceiling and the glass cliff?
Boyce Davies: These metaphors are dated now because women have already pushed through, and she is pushing through. She is challenging the entire structure so that it moves as she moves. We need different metaphors. The mountain is a good one, thinking of MLK and the Promised Land.
Hobson: And “lifting as we climb,” to invoke Black club women.
Boyce Davies: We are crossing all the boundaries. This is a good moment, and I’m happy to be in it.
Up next:
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
