This story was originally published by Capital B Gary.
By Calvin Davis
Capital B Gary
July 25, 2024
Gary native Tearanie Chinn joined more than 40,000 women on a Zoom call Sunday organized by a group called Win With Black Women to support the cause of electing the first woman to the White House.
“The energy was electrifying,” Chinn told Capital B Gary about the call, which raised more than $1.5 million while galvanizing thousands of black women across the country. “Seeing people on the call who experienced life pre-civil rights and never would have imagined a Black president, and now have the chance to elect a Black woman to our highest elected office, was really something to see and experience.”
For the 37-year-old voting rights advocate, this was just another example of Black women, yet again, “ready to be first on the front lines setting trends.”
As signs continue to point toward Vice President Kamala Harris securing the Democratic presidential nomination at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Black women in Gary have shown renewed interest in the 2024 general election and rallied behind Harris’ historic bid.
Their efforts reflect the energy that has quickly coalesced around the vice president in the days following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal announcement on Sunday. Black women across the country have answered the call with efforts to drive more support and financial contributions to Harris’ campaign, while Black sororities have pledged to launch grassroots initiatives to boost turnout in November. Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
National leaders of Divine Nine sororities and fraternities, a collective composed of nine historically Black Greek letter sororities and fraternities, issued a joint statement earlier this week pledging to start a massive coordinated, nonpartisan voter mobilization effort. They vowed to activate thousands of chapters and members in their respective organizations to ensure strong voter turnout in the communities they serve.
Karyn Price, president of the Gamma Psi Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha in Gary, said her chapter is stepping up.
“Our role, and one of our pillars, is to support voting and voting rights. We encourage this community to get out and vote,” Price told Capital B Gary. “With that said, this is very exciting news to have a Black female in this position. And she’s also part of our sorority, so this is a momentous occasion that we’re very proud of.”
Valeria Johnson-Fletcher, 73, of Gary, a state delegate and committee precinct person, said she hopes that with Harris atop the Democratic ticket, voters in the city and across the country will show up to the polls at a much higher clip. As reported by Capital B Gary in May, Gary and Lake County produced extremely low turnout numbers, which were not lost on Johnson-Fletcher.
“I am so grateful that Kamala is now our presidential candidate,” she said. “I plan to support her and do everything I can to get everybody else out to vote for her in the November election.”
Prior to Harris’ ascent to the top of the ticket, Damita Sanlin, 63 of Gary, was less than enthused with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who she deemed “too old” to vie for her vote.
“I was really disenchanted with the two candidates that we previously had for president,” she told Capital B Gary. “I was really feeling like they were living in the past and not speaking to the plight of people today.”
Now, Sanlin said, she’s more optimistic.
“It really inspired me,” she said. “It gives me hope that things can be a lot different. I think if people don’t know about her, they need to read about her. They need to read about what she represents, and they need to support her.”
Calvin Davis is Capital B Gary’s government and politics reporter. You can reach Calvin at calvin.davis@capitalbnews.org.
