The Harris Campaign Inspires Leadership in Surround Sound

When Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic frontrunner in the 2024 US presidential election on July 21st, she ignited a firestorm of hope from women across the country.

The dream of a woman in the top office, a dream that appeared to be on life support in a post-Dobbs America, was suddenly shocked back to life.

This electrifying shift created an almost instantaneous wildfire of support raging from affinity groups across the country thanks to Win With Black Women fanning those early flames.  That first Zoom call roared onto the scene when 44,000 Black Women gathered together raising $1.6M for Harris' campaign.

One after another, affinity groups owned their power.  No longer content with being passive showpieces to bolster public images, women and allies of all shapes, sizes, and colors roared in harmony.  Over the coming weeks, 7,500 Latinas, 9,000 South Asian Women, and 164,000 White Women came together in virtual hangouts raising more than $11M.  Calls were organized by Disabled Voters for Harris, Out for Kamala Harris LGBTQ+ Unity, Native Women + Two Spirits For Harris!, Caribbean-Americans for Harris, Filipino Americans for Harris, and even White Dudes for Harris. 

The promise of diversity and inclusion, of the power and agency that's within reach when people feel they belong, manifested before our very eyes.

As these powerful flames grew, we started to see the counterweight of discomfort trying to douse them.  Many of these comments came from seemingly well-meaning White Women, with remarks like, "Why can't we have a Zoom call for everyone?" or "How is this uniting us, it seems to me it's dividing us further." Instead of hearing this harmonious roar in surround sound, many White Women experienced this outpouring of support as choppy tones coming in and out of focus. 

The point is not to shame those who cannot hear the harmony, both Brené Brown and Dr. Tiffany Jana's work has shown that shame is a counterproductive tool. After all, with a little ear training, they could very well learn to hear the harmony.  

Rather, the point is to remind us all that the promise of affinity groups and DEI programs is to embrace the both/and of life. 

We can be both who we are and also part of the whole.  We can be in spaces where we feel that we belong and contributing to the larger movement.  We can attend an affinity group call today and a large rally with people from all walks of life tomorrow. 

We are not either/or.  We are both.

We can only show up as the best version of ourselves when we are whole; when we both feel heard and have the ability to hear others.

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It's also true that not all of us seek the safe spaces that identity-based affinity groups provide.  That's okay too. 

Some of us have been fortunate not to have encountered the kind of harmful othering that makes these spaces appealing. 

Others of us have healed and are ready to move into new spaces. 

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Evolved leadership must hold it all.  The world is rife with seeming contradictions.  Only those who energetically embrace a both/and mindset will be able to hear the harmony and fan the flames of progress.