“Kamala! Kamala! Kamala,” roared more than 200 men at a rally outside the Los Angeles Sentinel office on Saturday, August 3, to support Kamala Harris for U.S. President.
The huge gathering, officially called “Men in Support of Kamala Harris – We Won’t Go Back,” was spearheaded by Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson) and featured representatives of the civic, business, and faith communities.
Participating organizations included Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Iota Phi Theta, 100 Black Men, Prince Hall Masons, Baptist Ministers Conference, and several social clubs.
“We are at the brink of history in the making and your role in that is significant,” insisted Gipson in his opening remarks.
“Today, we want to refute and dispute what the polls have said that men of color are not going to show up for Kamala Harris. With you being here today, we can change people’s thinking. She is most qualified to be Commander-in-Chief and I don’t have a problem with supporting a woman to be president of the United States,” he said.
“Also, let me talk about raising money. It takes money to win. If we can get 1,000 brother to give $100 each, well, you do the math. That’s significant and that’s our goal before the end of September – to raise that kind of money,” Gipson said.
“I’ll end on this note – I am damn tired of this man disrespecting our women. He’s got to know that we’re going to protect our women! We won’t go back to the day where our voices were marginalized and overlooked. We won’t go back because we’re moving forward to claim our rightful place in the future. Today, we shatter the false narrative and make it unequivocally clear that we are supporting and standing strongly with Kamala Harris,” concluded Gipson.
“I cannot say enough about all the motivated and strong men who showed up today in support of the Harris for President Campaign. Far too often Black men and their effectiveness and ability to stand up and be counted in an election effort are discounted and dismissed, but today we have stood up to demonstrate that we will not be ignored, our voices will be heard, and our votes do and will matter in this election,” said Danny J. Bakewell, Jr., Sentinel executive editor and president of The Bakewell Company.
“We have come together to put in the work necessary to get Vice President Harris to be our 47th President of the United States!”
Others in attendance included Tony Vasquez of the California Equalization Board, former Council President Herb Wesson, Gardena Councilmember Mark Henderson, Carson Councilmember Jawane Hilton, Carson Councilmember Cedric L. Hicks, Sr., former Inglewood Councilmember Dr. Danny Tabor, CSUN Professor Dr. Boris Ricks, Port Commissioner and Labor Leader Steve Neal, Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce President JC Lacey, Crenshaw Chamber Board Member Leonardo Cablayan, and a host of other community leaders and advocates from across the city.
To learn more about the campaign, visit mensupportingvpharris.com.