Will VP Kamala Harris acknowledge her Caribbean roots

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This week, tens of thousands of people are in Chicago for the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Some 5,000 delegates and alternates are there to approve a party platform and are expected to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris—the daughter of a Caribbean immigrant father who was born in Jamaica, and an Indian-born mother—and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as their presidential and vice presidential candidates for the November general elections.

As the daughter of an Indian-born mother and a Jamaican-born father, Harris stands in the arena on the shoulders of the late Caribbean American Congresswoman Shirley Anita Chisholm. Chisholm, the daughter of immigrants from then-British Guiana and Barbados, was a trailblazer in American politics. On July 10, 1972, in Miami Beach, Fla., she made history as the first Black candidate to seek a major party nomination for president of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Her campaign slogan, “Unbought and Unbossed,” still resonates as a powerful reminder of her strength and determination.

It’s worth noting that, in 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Chisholm for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica—the very country from which Harris’s father, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University Dr. Donald Jasper Harris, OM, hails. Unfortunately, Chisholm’s health prevented her from serving in that role and the nomination was ultimately withdrawn. Yet, the symbolic connection between these two pioneering women is now undeniable.

As Harris formally accepts the Democratic Party’s nomination this week, she owes it to both Chisholm and Caribbean immigrant voters to fully acknowledge her Caribbean heritage. Harris is not simply a woman of “Black and South Asian” descent, as her White House biography states. She is also half-Jamaican and a Caribbean American woman.

Caribbean American voters will be closely watching to see whether Harris will embrace her roots and speak directly to our community as she seeks support in this critical election. Caribbean immigrants in the United States number more than 5 million nationally and make up approximately 10% of the foreign-born population. Most significantly, at least 50% are naturalized citizens and eligible to vote, according to U.S. Census data. Caribbean immigrants also represent a significant portion of the Black electorate, with Jamaicans comprising a substantial majority.

For many in the Caribbean diaspora, the Harris candidacy offers a unique opportunity. Not since the days of Alexander Hamilton or Shirley Chisholm has the prospect of a Caribbean-descended leader in the White House been so tangible. The idea that someone with non-white Caribbean heritage could ascend to the highest office in the land is a powerful, historic possibility in 2024.

But now, as Harris stands on the precipice of history, the question remains: Will she also embrace her Caribbean heritage in her speech at the convention? Will she acknowledge her sole living parent—her father and his Jamaican roots—and the Caribbean community that is eager to support her? Or will she continue to prioritize her “Black” and South Asian identities, and speak only about her mother and her coconut analogy, while ignoring those of us in the Caribbean diaspora?

We, Caribbean immigrant voters, will be watching and listening. In the name of Shirley Chisholm, I hope she does acknowledge her Caribbean heritage.

Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focused on positive news on the Black immigrant communities of the Caribbean and Latin America.

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