Shortly after Joe Biden announced he was handing over the reins of his presidential campaign to Kamala Harris, some of her biggest hits as a meme star were resurrected: the “You did it, Joe” call, and her “Momala” interview with Drew Barrymore, not to mention the callback in which the vice president, referencing his Indian mother’s quirk, annoyed, asks, “You think you fell from a coconut tree?”
But Black Twitter users were quick to recall Harris’s history of dignity as the Black woman next door, beginning with a 2019 Breakfast Club interview in which she defended herself against accusations that she wasn’t “African American” because her parents were immigrants: “Look, this is the same thing they did to Barack. [Obama]”I was born black. I will die black. I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because they don’t understand,” she said.
There will be countless conversations about Harris’ record, her voter support and her vaguely activist role as the lead figure under a lame-duck, one-term president that will run through November, but what’s resonating most with many black social media users in the wake of her surprise ascension is its cultural significance: a woman born in Oakland, raised in Berkeley, who has spent many Sundays in a Baptist church.
Earlier this week, the hashtags #WinWithBlackWomen and #WinWithBlackMen began trending, and each group hosted separate video calls to rally support for the vice president. And at a strategy meeting attended by tens of thousands of people, presenters repeatedly proudly praised Harris as their “sister” from Howard University and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, both historically black institutions. Over two days, the groups raised nearly $3 million in just a few hours.
While guest speakers on the women’s call tended to be political heavyweights, including Jasmine Crockett and Donna Brazile, celebrities on the men’s call, moderated by media guru Roland Martin, ranged from movie superproducer Will Packer to Oscar nominee Don Cheadle. “I’m a friend of hers and a fan of her journey,” said actor and comedian Bill Bellamy. “She didn’t come from nowhere.”
Harris has previously traveled to Hollywood’s black scene, a place that epitomizes turn-of-the-century black culture; her longtime friends include O.J. Simpson expert Star Jones and 21 Jump Street star Holly Robinson Peete. The two visited the then-Senator at the California State Capitol in 2017 to discuss a national bill that would address the policing of black teens with autism. (“We’re so lucky to have her as a friend, a warrior, a warrior,” Robinson Peete said on the reality show.)
At one point in 2001, Harris was dating talk show host Montel Williams. Shortly after the shocking news of Harris’ promotion broke, Williams retweeted a tweet from Maryland Governor Wes Moore in support of the vice president. Moore had also participated in the #WinWithBlackMen conference call. “We have 100 days to ensure that we protect the future of our children, families, communities and neighborhoods by having a President of the United States who understands us, believes in us and respects us,” Moore said.
Kamala Harris addresses members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in Dallas on July 10. Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Harris’ stance undoubtedly mirrors President Obama, another son of immigrants with whom black voters easily identified. The two gathered in Las Vegas this month to send off the U.S. basketball team before the Olympics, in footage that was widely shared. As Harris shook hands with Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, he spoke of a letter the vice president had sent her after the birth of his fourth child in May. “I appreciate it,” Curry told her. The personal touch was reminiscent of another prominent basketball fan who worked in the White House.
Obama and Harris also share similar tastes in music. While Obama is rightly credited as America’s first hip-hop president, having given him the nod and actually hanging out with Jay-Z, Harris is breaking new ground as America’s first B-girl president. After the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Harris listened to Mary J. Blige’s “Work That” for her acceptance speech. “I was so surprised,” Blige told Bravo TV. “Harris’ choice was a deep cut,” she added. “So I went back and listened to the album that song is on, Growing Pains, and the lyrics of that song, I was like, oh my god, I get why she chose that song.” [chose it]I forgot what I wrote!”
Harris’ keen ear was noted again on social media this week, as streaming music patrons returned to her 2019 campaign playlist, which includes a mix of A Tribe Called Quest, Jazmine Sullivan, and Prince. But for hardcore record diggers, Harris’ coolest music moment remains a 2023 shopping spree at black-owned HR Records in Washington, DC, where she bought vinyl records by Charles Mingus and Roy Ayers, as well as Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s studio album, Porgy and Bess. “She knows music,” store owner Charvis Campbell told DCist. “I made her a quick offer, I’d give her Coltrane, and she was like, ‘No, no, where’s Mingus?'”
Shortly after Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential front-runner, Beyoncé gave her permission to use her song “Freedom,” which she performed to during her first appearance as a presidential candidate in 2016. Radio host DL Hughley posted a video on Instagram of a remix of Kendrick Lamar’s diss “Not Like Us.” Highlights of Harris (walking with another black sorority girl, dancing in the rain under an umbrella) alternate with photos of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. “Who did this?” Hughley wrote. “Y’all hurry up!”
Some will likely question Harris’ pop culture credentials in the coming months, but to her allies in the Black community, online and beyond, every time she reflects on pop culture she leaves no doubt about who she is.