What I Admire about Kamala

What I Admire about Kamala
And How She Will Change America

I want to get all my cards out on the table before beginning. I contributed to the ActBlue fundraising site to support the Harris-Walz campaign. In Kamala’s first 80 days, she and her other groups took in $1 billion between July and October. That quarter accounted for the greatest amount of money ever raised in any political campaign.

Now, my contribution was a drop of water in a vast sea. Kamala will become our next president even if I didn’t contribute. However, giving to her campaign benefits me more than her fundraising campaign.

I follow a mantra that I came up with. It is in giving that we get. The giver benefits as much as the recipient. We are living at a pivotal moment in the history of America. The American experiment has faced problems in the past. The most trying time that our country has faced was the Civil War. There have been other wars that were trying, but none were equal to the War Between the States. We have faced depressions and pandemics. However, only the Civil War threatened the existence of our nation.

As I wrote the first draft of this article, I recalled William Faulkner’s acceptance speech after receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature.

I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

Some may view this essay as my puny “inexhaustible voice,” so be it. However, it is a time when we all need to stand up and act. A couple of months ago, I wasn’t sure America would survive another time with Trump in the White House. Nonetheless, we lucked out the first time, but I saw no hope for America this time. Biden wouldn’t be able to fend off votes for the Despicable Donald.

It was then something happened. I watched it unfold in a brief moment in time. The past was gone, and the future arrived. Suddenly, Kamala Harris walked out onto the stage, bringing hope amid hopelessness. It felt like I had been there before; I had.

During winter break in 2007, I went to South Africa to visit Michelle, my daughter. Michelle had gotten her master's at Erickson in Chicago in early childhood development. She happened to watch Oprah, who was at God’s Golden Arce. It was an orphanage for children who lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS. She went to Gol’s

Golden Acra as a volunteer. When I flew into the airport, it was great to see her. However, after reconnecting, she first wanted to know about Barack Obama and his chances of getting elected. She was all excited. While having Obama as our president would be great, I expressed my worry about whether America would elect a black as our president.

Amid my doubts, I returned to the States and watched Chris Matthews’ Hardball one evening. He, too, wondered the same thing as I did. Hearing that mindset from someone else changed my Weltanschauung. I became motivated and worked for Obama. I took this photo of Obama at a high school in Gary, IN, during his campaign. Michelle had returned from South Africa and went to the rally with me.

Above that photo of Obama was his invitation to attend his inauguration.

This photo is of Leonidas, who commanded the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. Xerxes told the Spartans to surrender, to which Leonidas said, “Moλωυ λαβε,” which means “Come and take them.” Leonidas and the 300 Spartans stopped the Persians for two days, enough time for the Greek navy to defeat Xerxes’ navy at the Battle of Salamis. Leonidas saved the Greek civilization and the basis of the Western world and culture. Obama followed in Leonidas' footsteps.

Before Biden debated with Trump, I didn’t wouldn’t have bet that Harris could become our first female president. Nonetheless, Harris proved to me and millions of others that she will be elected in less than two weeks.

This is Obama and Harris campaigning together in Atlanta.

So, what is there about Harris’ appeal? What made her the Democratic nominee so quickly? Here are the top three reasons for my mindset.

1. Kamala parses questions that she is asked and then analyzes an informed reply. Trump merely babbles.

2. Kamala doesn’t kowtow to men. That is one of her great strengths, but it also rattles some men due to their sexism. Insecurity is not limited to the macho man Donald the Dumb.

3. Kamala used pain as a means to grow. She knows the adage no pain, no gain. Racism, sexism, and xenophobia rattle her. Instead of backing off, she advances her position.

I’m making a video for Harris. I share some similar pains in my journey down my yellow brick road of life. Much of what motivates Kamala and I relates to pain as we grew up. Nevertheless, I need her help, especially regarding our State Department.