By SHANNON O. WELLS
President Joe Biden’s decision this summer to drop out of the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris suddenly opened a door for the potential election of America’s first Black and Asian female president.
Kyaien Conner, director of Pitt’s Center on Race and Social Problems and associate dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Social Work, has a particularly keen interest in Harris’ history-making bid, as both are members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
Although the two didn’t pledge at the same time, with Harris attending Howard University in the 1980s and Conner at Pitt in the early 2000s, Conner nonetheless said she feels a strong sisterly connection based on their shared history and aspirations regarding women of color and women in general.
Conner, who heard of the monumental campaign change on her July 21 birthday, took a break from her summer projects to address some questions from the University Times on the newly reconfigured presidential race, and what a possible Harris victory might mean for gender and race relations going forward.
University Times: What were you doing and how surprised were you when you heard that President Biden was not going to run against Trump and endorsed Harris as the candidate to take his place?
Kyaien Conner: I was in the community teaching a cultural dance class when the news came out. I remember my phone starting to go off nonstop, and we paused class to see what was happening. We all grabbed our phones and began checking headlines to make sure what we were seeing was really happening, and not fake news.
Being in a community cultural arts space surrounded by Black women was the perfect setting to receive this announcement. We all began hugging, crying and dancing around the room.
There were mixed emotions, one of concern for President Joe Biden and this difficult choice that he had to make to back out of the election, but the largest emotion was pure joy. Joy that we are again witnessing history in the making. A Black woman as the frontrunner of the Democratic party to run for president of the United States, this is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. The fact that July 21st is my birthday was icing on the cake. I spent the evening on a Zoom call with 44,000 Black women across the country celebrating this historic event, raising over a million dollars, and planning for the critical work we have ahead of us.
UTimes: How would you describe your relationship with VP Kamala Harris as a sorority sister?
Conner: VP Kamala Harris and I are both members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Alpha Kappa Alpha, known as AKA, was founded at Howard University in 1908, making it the oldest historically Black sorority in the United States. As a member of AKA, we follow five basic tenets, which include encouraging high scholastic and ethical standards, to study and alleviate problems concerning girls and women and, importantly, being of “service to all mankind.”
These tenets have impacted me significantly on the path that I have chosen as a professor of social work and the director of a research center focused on mitigating oppression and achieving social justice (Center on Race and Social Problems). VP Harris, too, has followed these tenets in her career of service to this country as a district attorney, attorney general of California, a state senator and now vice president of the United States.
VP Harris and I did not pledge at the same time. She crossed in 1986 at Howard University, and I am a proud member of Iota chapter at the University of Pittsburgh, where I crossed in the fall of 2001. But being an AKA is a lifelong sisterhood, so as her sister, and as a Black woman, I am filled with overwhelming excitement and pride.
UTimes: Do you think Kamala Harris is the most qualified candidate available under the circumstances? Why … or why not?
Conner: I absolutely believe Kamala Harris is the most qualified candidate to run against former President Trump. Kamala Harris has spent her life in service to the people of the United States. Her track record and experience as a public servant as district attorney, attorney general of California, a state senator and as the current vice president of the United States uniquely qualify her as the Democratic candidate for president.
Many have identified her as a rising leader among Democrats, and one of few candidates capable of leading an increasingly diversifying party and country. Her stance on many issues, although polarizing across party lines, align with the positions for a significant proportion of Americans, including the belief that women should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, her stance on stricter laws around gun safety, enhanced voting rights for all Americans and her fight for environmental justice.
She has been incredibly visible and outspoken in the fight for fundamental freedoms for the American people. The successes she has attained during her last four years in the White house along with the massive amount of support and endorsements she has received in the short time since this announcement all speak to not only her qualifications, but also to the prospect of her being an effective president of the United States.
UTimes: What does the prospect of Kamala going against former President Trump and possibly becoming the first Black/Asian woman president mean to you? What does it mean for the country?
Conner: It is difficult to put into words what this means to me, and to Black and Asian women, and to women and people of color in general. This would be a historic event. An event that many of us never thought we would be alive to bear witness to. Kamala Harris represents a previously unimaginable possibility. The possibility of true political representation for Black and Asian women and girls. The possibility of living in a functional democracy. The possibility of greater gender and racial equity in this country. Since this announcement, personally, I feel a renewed sense of optimism about these possibilities.
Kamala Harris was not born into wealth or politics. She is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India. She has had to fight for every opportunity and victory she has attained. Kamala was the first South Asian American senator, California’s first South Asian woman attorney general, and the first woman and woman of color vice president. And now, she could be the first woman and woman of color to become president of the United States. And her accession to this position of power in this country speaks to, again, this previously unimaginable possibility: To what is possible now and in the future.
UTimes: What should she be emphasizing in what is now a short campaign season?
Conner: I am by no means a political expert, but I think given this challenging path to victory she has been given, Kamala Harris will have to be strategic. (She) is a dynamic public speaker, whose poise and confidence speaking to the American people has significantly improved over her tenure as vice president. She is doing now exactly what she should be doing, talking to the American people and taking as many opportunities to do so as she can, focusing on the critical issues, highlighting her vision for our country and steering clear of political landmines.
There were many Americans who were unenthusiastic about our choices before this turn of events. I think Kamala needs to focus her efforts on those people and communities who have historically been under-represented at the polls: people of color and young adults. The recent announcement provided a much-needed infusion of optimism and excitement that she can and should capitalize on.
UTimes: What challenges and obstacles do you see for Harris and how might she and her team navigate them? Why has it been so rare to have a female presidential front runner?
Conner: In my opinion, the biggest challenge Harris will experience, which is also the reason I believe it has been so rare to have a woman as a presidential front runner in any party, is the systemic racism and sexism that permeates our country. Regardless of party affiliation, there are many Americans (including other women) that don’t want to see a woman as president of the United States, much less a woman of color. And unfortunately, the hateful rhetoric has already begun.
The unconscious, and in many cases conscious, biases held by many will not be easily overcome, and Kamala will certainly have to endure an enormous amount of racism, sexism, micro-aggressions and invalidations and challenges to her qualifications rooted not in her political positionality, but rather on her background and social identities.
I think to navigate these challenges, it is important that Kamala Harris not give these personal identity attacks any power or additional airtime. She should focus on her platform, the critical issues she plans to address, and her overall vision for the United States. Despite the renewed energy her endorsement by President Biden has brought, she knows this will be an uphill battle. But Kamala Harris is sufficiently equipped to engage in this fight. (She) has achieved many firsts in her political career, and I believe she can do it again.
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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