COMMENTARY: Hope and history, multiple truths and multiple tensions: Kamala Harris and understanding the most important election of our lifetime

Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), on why the organization is endorsing Kamala Harris for President of the United States

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This is an opinion column written by Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC). Lang is a regular contributor to The Recombobulation Area, is the winner of an award from the Milwaukee Press Club for her work at the publication.

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Early Sunday morning on July 21, I arrived home from Madison. Before heading back to Milwaukee, my friends and I were discussing rumors we’d been hearing about President Biden dropping out of the presidential campaign. 

We all thought that if it was going to happen Sunday, they’d likely announce early, and then hit the morning shows. When I got back to Milwaukee and there had been no announcement, I decided to crawl into bed and read a bit. Then in the early afternoon, Biden made his announcement. While I wasn’t surprised given the rumors, I was curious about how the rest of the election would play out with something so unprecedented. I wondered if her former “top cop” title from her time as Attorney General in California would be a barrier for the people we are engaging with on the doors. I was encouraged — and a bit relieved — that there could be a more energetic campaign to take on Donald Trump’s lies. I checked my email and immediately, I had several requests from the media, asking me to comment on the news. I kept my responses vague for the moment, and went to check in with the team at BLOC. 

In the hours that followed, I saw individuals and organizations immediately endorse Kamala Harris as the nominee. Given the issues with Biden’s campaign we were wrestling with as an organization, I knew this was going to be something we had to discuss at length before we made any type of endorsement. If I was having complicated feelings, I knew our community could be, too. 

A few days later, Harris visited West Allis in her first campaign stop after Biden dropped out. I had even more emails and requests from the press and I still wrestled with what to say. There were certain nuances to the situation that people were not yet talking about, but I also did not want to squash any feelings of hope that our community was experiencing. The phrase I landed on was: “Multiple things can be true.” In these dark days of the election cycle, it wasn’t my place to shut down hope — hope that was desperately needed. We continued to wrestle with what we do as an organization while holding multiple tensions and multiple truths. 

Long before Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee for President, we were having conversations about endorsing Joe Biden. We take endorsements very seriously at BLOC. Our community wasn’t enthused and didn’t really want to engage in a conversation about a rematch of 2020. Many Black residents we spoke to were not happy about reelecting someone who wrote the ‘94 Crime Bill which added 100,000 new police officers and allocating $9.7 Billion for prisons (and only $6.1 Billion for prevention programs. 30 Years later and our office sits in the most incarcerated zip code where the ‘94 Crime Bill has impacted. It made sense that some people we talked to were not particularly excited about reelecting Joe Biden. 

With Immigrant rights constantly being compromised on, the genocide in Gaza, and the lack of movement on real criminal justice reform, it was understandable why people were less than thrilled about the November election. 

When Kamala Harris became the nominee, those concerns still remained, but people felt more hopeful about a candidate that could go toe to toe with Donald Trump. 

Last week, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC) endorsed Kamala Harris. 

We had been watching the election closely, but we also needed to talk to our community as well as process and discuss as a team. There were some points of tension, particularly on her past record as a prosecutor and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Our democracy work intersects with the issues of mass incarceration daily, and we’ve been outspoken about the injustice in Palestine. 

This endorsement will not change our stances on that. People can often feel like they’re voting for the “lesser of the two evils” when you don’t feel like anyone is actually listening to your concerns and needs as a voter. Personally, I would love to see a viable third party for more people to feel like their issues are reflected, but that is not the reality right now. When all the ballots are counted only one of two candidates will win. 

This endorsement was a decision our team wrestled with for months. We had numerous discussions in the office, on doors with our community and with partner organizations. Even though there are points of tension and things we disagree with in her campaign, we feel this is the best avenue to continue to push on these issues. 

Each election cycle we say this is the most important election of our lifetimes, but this time really feels like it. We’ve said it in terms of losing potential rights, and trying to stop harmful policies. The first time I really felt that way was in 2012, with Barack Obama’s re-election. Mitt Romney said he would immediately move to defund Planned Parenthood. As a young college student, this terrified me. Since then, the stakes have only gotten bigger. That 2012 election seems like peanuts in comparison to what we’re feeling right now. More and more policies and rights have been on the chopping block in the years since. If Donald Trump wins, we don’t know if a democracy will even exist. It feels like we’re voting on the future of an existence in this country. Fascism seems to be knocking on our door more than I have ever seen before. 

Project 2025 is a dangerous threat that looms over us, and one we cannot ignore. Abortion access, LGBTQIA rights, and so many of our other rights are on the line. Donald Trump saying things like “get out and vote, just this time”, adding that “you won’t have to do it any more. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians.” should be alarming to us all. Even more recently he said at a rally how we should have “one real rough, nasty” and “violent day” of police retaliation in order to eradicate crime “immediately.”

These two quotes are terrifying for our communities. In the office, we discussed how he basically called for things found only in the movie “The Purge.” Police already dehumanize our community and threats like this should be taken seriously. He’s saying exactly what we will do to our own loved ones, especially the most marginalized. 

Everyone has a different fear level of what would happen if Donald Trump was elected. The more marginalized you are, the more fear you may have. We are all facing various threats to our lives and futures depending on our identities. We couldn’t ignore the real fear in our communities. People have asked me, “Angela, if Trump is re-elected, are Black people going to be back in slavery?” This isn’t said as a joke or being dramatic, but from a place of real fear given the white supremacist nature of his campaign, rhetoric, and policies. Queer folks are afraid as we have seen a rise in anti-LGBTQIA attacks. 

We also acknowledge that there are a lot of folks in our community who are excited about Kamala Harris being the first Black woman president — especially our elders. After she became the nominee, the energy was palpable, even if some of us weren’t quite there yet. 

It’s not lost on us that history could be made. In a time where there is a rise in hate crimes, a resurgence of the Proud Boys, and Nazis openly marching in the streets, this is the moment where we could be making history. 

Some in our community feel hopeful. The hope isn’t just rooted in someone who can stop Trump, but also her plans to expand the Child Tax Credit, her and President Biden’s investment of $16 Billion to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities, her commitment to protecting abortion access, and her work to reduce recidivism when she was District Attorney through her “Back on Track” program. Some people feel that she is fighting for them more than Trump ever would. 

Others in our community are skeptical given her record as District Attorney, specifically her truancy program which allowed district attorneys to charge parents with a misdemeanor if their children missed 10% of the school year without a valid reason. It is understandable that folks living in the most incarcerated zip code are giving her pause or want clarity on her stances. 

All of these variables have made this a tough decision for us. But at the end of the day, we know that Trump and Trumpism need to be stopped if we want to actually course correct the path this country is currently on. 

Some people reading may wonder why talk about these tensions if we endorsed her. It’s exactly the reason we are. BLOC can hold multiple truths. Many voters do.. One of the beautiful things about democracy is that it leaves room for multiple voices and opinions. Disagreeing with elected officials and candidates is a part of democracy. I’ve been called divisive for talking about these things, but we want to continue to push our elected officials to address the needs and concerns of our community. 

Being honest about holding multiple tensions isn’t divisive, but an important part of our democracy. We can have these conversations out in public without the condescending “don’t you people know what’s at stake if you don’t vote for Kamala?” Yes, our community should be given more credit for our analysis. We have a full understanding of how most candidates don’t follow through on their campaign promises. Given the history of voting rights in this country, we take our vote very seriously and sometimes that means asking the hard questions that people may find uncomfortable. It’s our job as voters, and it’s our job as organizers to continue to push and do our due diligence of candidates seeking to represent us in the highest office.  

Since the day she became the nominee, I’ve really been sitting in that space — that multiple things can be true. We can hold multiple truths and have to reconcile multiple views, feelings, and perspectives. We’re all stronger for having this conversation. Having these conversations allows us to see the humanity in Palestinians, immigrants, and LGBTQIA people who are struggling right now and want to be seen and heard. We can honor people’s complicated feelings and hold these truths. We want to protect our democracy but we also want make sure our communities aren’t further criminalized, dehumanized, and an end to the genocide. 

We can continue to push the Vice President, it’s how we organize and get results. There is a common misconception that the Vice President can’t do anything, so don’t bother. That’s false. Her platform is huge and everyone is paying attention to what she says. She can use her platform and her stances to make important points and continue to show her values. She can control the language she uses and how her campaign moves. She can control what communities she’s listening to and who she is ignoring. This is why it is important to know that we can continue to push with her being Vice President and that’s what we will continue to do. 

We want to be able to continue to fight and organize and that might not be possible to do under a Trump presidency. 

We made this decision because we want to live to fight another day. But so do Palestinians. Some of us are fighting for our lives, but we cannot ignore that while we are voting to preserve our futures, we also must continue to demand that the futures of Palestinians matter, too.