Black racial justice movement leader bats for Kamala Harris

Indian American senator has been a change agent for 30 years, Ben Crump tells Biden.

Follow @ambazaarmag

Amid public jockeying for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, a leading figure in the racial justice movement has come out strongly in favor of lone Indian American senator Kamala Harris.

“This is a time for steely-eyed public servants who play no games and demand results,” wrote civil rights attorney Ben Crump in an opinion piece on CNN noting the gains made in the “fight against systemic injustice and racism” this year.

“It’s time for Sen. Kamala Harris to join Joe Biden’s ticket and, God willing, help him actualize the next phase of this movement from the White House,” he wrote.

Preventing “powerful reversions to the status quo,” wrote Crump, “means keeping up the pressure that has given us this opening,” and selecting “leaders with the skill and strength we need to translate our urgent demands into real, sustainable change.”

Making the case for Harris, Crump wrote, “She has  been a change agent at every level of government — local, state, and federal — for 30 years. She has been a trailblazer for reform-minded prosecutors nationwide.”

“She is the only Black woman in the US Senate, and just the second in our history,” he noted. “The truth is, Harris has been unraveling broken systems and confronting injustice since long before most people knew her name.”

Crump said it “fills me with great hope to imagine Harris joining” Biden in the fight “to repair a shattered economy, a damaged global reputation, a justice system in need of a serious overhaul, and the most profound racial reckoning of this era.”

Meanwhile, unlike some other Biden short-listers, Harris has repeatedly turned down interview requests for media reports focused on the topic, according to Politico.

As the political website reported last week a faction of Democrats were lobbying Biden’s team against choosing Harris with search committee co-chair Chris Dodd reportedly calling her debate attack on Biden last year as “cheap” and “a gimmick.”

After a contingent of California officials had also lobbied Biden against Harris, the Biden vetting team held a conference call with Harris allies to hear them argue in favor of her candidacy, it said.

Politico cited sources as saying that Harris was the only potential VP candidate who was afforded such a call, which included all four of Biden’s vetting team co-chairs.

Harris, according to Politico, later told a Friday livestream conference for Black Women Lead 2020, “there will be a resistance to your ambition.”

“They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been, instead of what can be,” she said. “But don’t you let that burden you.”

MORE FROM ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE:

Indian American group wants Kamala Harris as Biden’s VP pick  (August 4, 2020)

Indian American senator Kamala Harris tops Biden’s VP list (July 29, 2020)

Biden vows to end green card caps, increase H-1B visas (July 15, 2020)

Joe Biden vows to lift Trump’s H-1B ban if elected (July 1, 2020)

Biden taps Indian American Medha Raj to lead his digital campaign (June 30, 2020)

Indian American Rep. Pramila Jayapal endorses Biden (April 27, 2020)

Kamala Harris exits the presidential race (December 3, 2019)

Tulsi Gabbard exits presidential race, backs Joe Biden (March 19, 2020)

Iack from India, Trump targets Indian American voters with Taj, Modi ads (February 28, 2020)

Here are seven Indian and South Asian Americans serving in key 2020 campaign positions (May 21, 2019)

Former Hillary and Sanders campaign aide Kunoor Ojha joins Warren campaign (May 12, 2019)

Meet Sabrina Singh, the Indian American National Press Secretary for Cory Booker (May 6, 2019)

Sharmeen Khan joins Biden campaign as Deputy Research Director (May 2, 2019)

Biden-Harris will be a winning combination in 2020 (April 26, 2019)

Tulsi Gabbard outraises Kamala Harris among Indian American donors (April 20, 2019)

Indian American Impact Fund endorses Kamala Harris for President (April 17, 2019)

Kamala Harris remembers her Indian American mother as she officially launches her White House bid (January 29, 2019)