(Photo: Emma Lockridge and Alisa Hicks)
It’s their nightly bedtime ritual.
When Clinton Township resident Alisa Hicks, 32, and her daughter, Karisma, 1, prepare to go to sleep, Hicks ensures that one thing is settled into her child’s spirit every single night: That she will be great.
“Sometimes when me and her are brushing our teeth and washing our face and she has that pretty smile I say, ‘Look mommy you are beautiful. You are smart. You are intelligent. You will be something one day—whatever you take your mind to do, I will support you,’” she said.
One can’t help but think that Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris was encouraged like that by her mother, whom she describes as “the reason for everything.”
As the Nov. 3rd presidential election draws near, Black women speak up and speak out about what Harris means to them. With women being granted the right to vote 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment—and Black women being given the right to vote with the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a lot is riding on this election, and people like Hicks want Harris to know simply, they have her covered.
“She’s looking out for our people,” Hicks said. “Hopefully Kamala when being the vice president will change [things] as far as the pandemic. She’s not here for games; she means business.”
In a Nov. 2 Essence Magazine article written by Harris, she describes getting down to business and what that might look like on day one if elected.
“In our first 100 days in office, we will create a national police oversight commission. We cannot afford four more years of Donald Trump. We must elect Joe Biden,” she said in the article. “Joe and I have a plan to contain this virus with a national strategy that includes masks, widespread free testing, contact tracing, and a free and safe vaccine. We’ll make sure our frontline workers, many of whom are Black, have the personal protective equipment and support they need. We will provide schools and businesses with clear, evidence-based guidelines to reopen safely—and the resources to do so.”
She added that the duo would “build back our economy to support working families.” That means eliminating the Trump tax cuts for big corporations and the top 1%, and they won’t raise taxes one cent on “folks making less than $400,000.”
Their plan also includes investing in lower healthcare costs and better schools, building on the Affordable Care Act with a medicare-like public option, and fighting for reproductive justice by addressing maternal mortality among Black women, codifying Roe v. Wade, and repealing the Hyde Amendment, the article said.
Harris added in the story that Black women “hold the power in this election.”
Harris must have had 60-something Detroiter Emma Lockridge in mind. Lockridge, a former journalist and environmental activist in southwest Detroit, said that she is “thrilled” about the prospect of Harris being elected as the next vice president tomorrow.
“I think the good people in this country think she is fully capable,” Lockridge, who recently voted, said, with certainty. “I think her voice will prevail. I expect for us to win tomorrow because America is better than that.”
Lockridge added that the world is “holding its breath” to see the election outcome. Also, history could be made tomorrow if Harris wins.
“We have Black women as congress women, [Black] people as senators—but we have never had a Black woman in the White House in leadership and that would be big,” Lockridge said, adding that the win could be a major boost for young, Black girls looking up to Harris, and everyone alike. “We adore [her] we respect [her] and… I hope [she can feel] our love, and that empowerment. ‘I think she knows we’re out here for her.”
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