Individual members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — whose headquarters are in Chicago — have begun mobilizing in masses to support their “soror” in the historic race for president.
Felicia Stanton Gray was not sure she would ever see a Black woman — let alone a “soror” — in a presidential contest.
But Sunday afternoon, what felt like a dream for many became a reality, as Vice President Kamala Harris, an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority member, entered the race for president.
“As a Black woman, to see that she will potentially be the first Black woman nominee for the president of the United States — it’s not something that I thought I would see this soon,” Gray, president of AKA’s Theta Omega Chapter, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Our vice president’s journey underscores what the mission of our sorority is, our commitment to service and to leadership that we’ve championed over a century. She’s exemplary of that.”
Many AKAs, like Gray, were shocked by the news that President Joe Biden would leave the race, but they were filled with an enormous sense of pride as he endorsed Harris just weeks before the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago.
“In this geopolitical environment, and sometimes (with) the views of people of color, and especially a woman leading, I honestly did not think that Kamala Harris would even get a nod,” AKA Central Regional Director Kiahna Davis told the Sun-Times. “To hear that, it made me proud as a woman, and it made me proud as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.”
As a nonprofit organization, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., remains non-partisan, but across the country, individual members have begun mobilizing in masses for their “soror.”
“Kamala Harris is a member of the D9 (the “Divine Nine”) and she reflects the values that exist in us already,” Davis said. “We should not be surprised when people are energized because they see a path for their future, in the present, sitting there at the top of the ticket.
