Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke on Wednesday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States in November’s Presidential Elections.
“I have had the privilege of knowing Vice President Kamala Harris for many years, and of working alongside her on a number of issues close to both our hearts during her tenure in the United States Senate,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the largely Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, told Caribbean Life exclusively. “But well before my first opportunity to do so, I had already heard much on her distinguished character and the dignity with which she carries herself, as well as, of course, our common Jamaican heritage.
“Yet, it was not until I stood by her side and felt the full breadth of her energy and passion that it became clear to me that she is an individual who truly embodies the ethos of Caribbean resilience that defines our culture and community,” Clarke added. “She is a woman who has been pushed back, yet still pushes forward.”
The congresswoman said Harris’s “persevering spirit is what has so profoundly resonated with Caribbean-Americans, and the American people at-large.
“As America faces this great inflection point, and its people begin to deliberate on their choice that will decide the path our nation takes on the decades ahead, there is no doubt in my mind that Vice President Kamala Harris is the leader we need to steer us through this pivotal movement, and towards the future so many are depending on,” said Clarke about Harris, whose father is retired Jamaican-born economist Dr. Donald Harris.
Clarke described Harris as “a joyful warrior, unafraid to reject hate, and unapologetic of who she is and what her story says.
“I will take great pride in casting my ballot in her name come November, and I am immensely grateful that she will have provided myself and tens of millions more Americans the chance to play our part in the history she is creating,” she said.
Earlier this week, a newly-formed virtual group called Caribbean Americans United in Support of Kamala Harris for President began strongly pushing for the election of the first Caribbean-American Vice President in in the United States.
The Steering Committee of the group, which was formed on Jul. 22, comprises members who are primarily New York residents.
The seven-member Committee comprises former New York City Council Member Una S.T. Clarke, Congresswoman Clarke’s mother; New York State Senator Kevin Parker, representative for the predominantly Caribbean 21st Senate District in Brooklyn; Former Suffolk County, Long Island legislator Jacqueline Gordon-Davy; college administrator and community activist Sherrill-Ann Mason; educators and community activists Martin Felix and Fadhilika Atiba-Weza; and political consultant Ernest McD. Skinner.
Vincentian-born Atiba-Weza, the group’s convenor, told Caribbean Life that Caribbean Americans United in Support of Kamala Harris for President comprises individuals who are residing in various states, and that members expect Harristo be elected the 47th President of the United States of America on November 5.
“We are at inflection point in the history of this country,” Atiba-Weza said. “We cannot afford another Trump presidency. His statements and proposed policies pose existential threats to the security of the country, as we know it.
“Immigrants are threatened with significant disruption to the well-being, among other nefarious utterances by Trump and the MAGA forces,” he added. “A Harris victory will avert that. We expect that Vice President Harris will be elected to the White House.”
Jamaican-born Una S.T. Clarke, the first ever Caribbean-American woman to be elected to New York City Council, told Caribbean Life that Harris is “competent and has the qualifications for the position.
“I feel confident that she can win,” said the trail-blazing Clarke, an elected New York City delegate to the Democratic Convention in Chicago next week. “When all of us put our heads and hearts together, it becomes easier.
“I didn’t go into politics for politics’ sake but to make a difference for all people,” she added. “Kamala Harris has immigrant roots. All immigrants, including Caribbean-Americans, should support and vote for her, if they can, in the Presidential Elections.”
Felix, a Grenadian-born public high school teacher in Brooklyn and adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), State University of New York (SUNY), also told Caribbean Life that “certain moments in history underscore the importance of voting and participating in the electoral process.
“The US has yet to elect a woman as head of state, despite the global precedent by many Caribbean countries that Trump and others refer disparagingly – Haiti, Dominica, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, to name only a few,” Felix said.
In its 248 years since independence and 46 presidents, he said the US has “never had a head of state to represent women, who are the majority.
“Women, especially women of color, are still paid less than men, and the Supreme Court recently repealed Roe v. Wade, which now gives the state control over a woman’s body,” he said. “As the US grapples with issues of gender equality and reproductive rights, Harris’s candidacy offers a pivotal choice for all Americans, including Caribbean-Americans.”
Atiba-Weza said the mission of Caribbean Americans United in Support of Kamala Harris for President is “to empower the voice of Caribbean Americans in the USA, and to mobilize and inspire our communities to elect Kamala Harris in 2024 as President of the United States, fostering a future of inclusive and strategic leadership and representation.”
He said the group has four primary objectives: Fundraising, Awareness Building, Voter Registration and Turn Out The Vote.
Skinner, a Trinidadian native, residing in Brooklyn, told Caribbean Life as well, that “voting for Trump agenda is inimical for us.”
“I hope she (Harris) wins,” he said. “She’s in a honey moon period; she’s energizing the base. I hope that continues to build. I hope Democrats will be energized. I hope we can continue to build that momentum coming out of the convention.
“I’m hoping that the election will not be as close,” added Skinner, whose political activism was influenced by the late Kwame Ture, formerly Stokely Carmichael, a Trinidadian-born American activist, who played a major role in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement.
“I’m encouraging people to vote, registering and vote,” Skinner continued. “I’m talking to young people and encouraging them to do that. It’s incumbent on us to turn out in our massive numbers to make sure Kamala Harris become the 47th President of the United States.”
Last week, the two most powerful Democrats in the United States Congress threw their full support behind Harris as the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States.
US Senate Majority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer and US House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, endorsed Harris.
“Vice President Harris has done a truly impressive job securing the majority of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination,” said Schumer at a joint, nationally-televised news conference with Jeffries in Washington. “So now that the process has played out, from the grass roots, bottom up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Schumer said that when he spoke with Harris, she said “she wanted the opportunity to win the nomination on her own, and to do so from the grassroots up, not top down.”
Jeffries, whose 8th Congressional District in New York encompasses large concentration of Caribbean nationals in Brooklyn and Queens, said Harris’s candidacy has “excited and energized the House Democratic Caucus, the Democratic Party and the nation.
“She is ready, she is willing, she is able to energetically and emphatically lead America into the future,” he said.
After President Joe Biden announced that he will not seek re-election, Jeffries described him as “one of the most accomplished and consequential leaders in American history.
“In less than one term, he rescued the nation from a once-in-a-century pandemic, brought the economy roaring back from the brink of recession, enacted consequential legislation for everyday Americans and saved our democracy by defeating the Insurrectionist-in-Chief,” he said.
“America is a better place today because President Joe Biden has led us with intellect, grace and dignity,” Jeffries added. “We are forever grateful.”
An increasing number of leading Democrats, including former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, have also thrown their full support behind Harris.
Pelosi expressed her “enthusiastic support” for Harris’s campaign, adding that Harris has “immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future.”
Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Caribbean-American Steven Horsford has lauded Biden and endorsed Harris.
Horsford, the son a Trinidadian immigrant mother, who represents Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, said Biden “has served our country with integrity, a sense of character, and a sense of always putting country above self, and today was no exception.
“I know today’s decision had to be difficult, but I join him in endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris,” he said.
After announcing that he will not seek the presidential re-election, Biden said he will fully support Harris for the Democratic nomination.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” he said. “And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today, I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
Meanwhile, Harris said she was “honored” to receive Biden’s endorsement, describing the president’s decision not to seek re-election as “selfless and patriotic act”.
Stressing Biden’s patriotism, Harris noted that Biden was “putting the American people and our country above everything else.”
“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda,” she pledged in a statement.
