On August 2, 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States. In just over two weeks, Harris has formed a people powered coalition of Americans from all walks of life. Their endorsement of her leadership stands in contrast to the often vague and critical characterizations of her these past several years. Weeks seem more like months, or more realistically months in another time and place. Not a place where our hard fought rights – to vote, to make decisions about our own bodies, to love who we love are under threat. Because in a place like this- the swirl of pundit doubts, op-eds warning us to reign in our excitement over this candidate, mysteriously unknown to us despite being our Vice President- racism and sexism get the last word.

I spent my mid-July in the mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia. I tried to shut out the news. Or at least, pace myself. Project 2025 downloaded, I took it in bits, with birds chirping in the background, occasionally looking up to spot a rabbit or deer. I hiked a piece of the Appalachian Trail. Made pancakes and risotto. Sat in front of a campfire and scanned the horizon for bears. But the flood of happenings – an assassination attempt, an “iconic image” with a fist pumping Trump and an immediate effort to silence criticism of him and his policies, the ongoing rollercoaster surrounding Biden’s reelection bid and the debate about who would we ever find to replace him, left me staring into the fire, comatose like. Put in my place, as men claim evidence of God bestowing grace on them and their actions.

This is the America I know. A place where my dissent and disapproval mean nothing. They are intellectual pursuits at best- a section in intersectional activism and women’s studies in a bookstore. Sometimes they are termed a passion- code for special interest or not something everyone need care about. They are concepts we run from, rebranded as instruments of division, instead of realities baked into our lives. Racism and sexism exist and do harm. But there is no space or time for this discussion, even when it’s staring us in the face with its bold transparency. Shouting at us in the form of a talking head, usually male, usually white, telling us that people just don’t know this accomplished, experienced candidate well enough, and shouldn’t we “strengthen” her with a primary. Or perhaps an open convention where Gavin Newsom- I mean someone could emerge as a choice of the pundits- I mean people.

This is the America I live in. Surrounded by constant reminders of what graces will and will not be given to me, based on a caste system of race, gender and class. And so I recall the prophetic words of my Italian American grandmother, circa late 1970s, uttered with pride as she watched my young self dry the tines of a fork with a dish towel. “Jackie will make a good little housewife one day.”

So forgive me, doubters of Kamala Harris and the concept of equity and progress generally, when I tell you that being woken from a dead sleep in the passenger seat of our car to hear the news of Joe Biden stepping down, quickly followed by his unequivocal endorsement of our Vice President, was like being born into a new reality. For the second time in our history, a woman nominee of a major political party will be leading on issues that affect women and all of us so deeply. For the first time in our history that nominee of a major political party will be a Black South Asian American woman.

Excuse me if I insist on celebrating diversity. And if I point out that statements such as “I don’t want to vote for someone because they’re a woman or because they’re black”, are revealing. (First, no one asked you to, although I do ask that you not vote for her opponent because he is a White man running against a Black woman.) But statements like these imply that we should attribute Harris’ success at generating enthusiasm and funds from a diverse coalition to anything other than her. They also imply that there is an inherent inferiority in anyone not white or male. As if women and people of color have to work harder to prove themselves to white America. And maybe that’s because, well, women and people of color have to work harder to prove themselves to white America. Thanks in large part to the systemic racism and sexism in our culture and institutions, we are at vastly different places with recognizing how what we say and do perpetrates these injustices. So if you’re going to cite a reason not to vote for Harris, I urge you to base it in facts. We can all at the very least listen and do no harm.

I’m excited that Kamala Harris is running for president, because she has the leadership, the vision, the experience and the integrity to move our country forward. I am voting for a country where women have reproductive freedom, where we don’t confuse our freedom to worship with freedom to impose worship, where everyone’s access to the ballot is protected, where economic policy isn’t hijacked by billionaires’ interests, where climate science informs policy and yes where diversity is valued.

When it became clear that Harris would be our nominee I felt a sense of kinship with all women. Even the women I know voted for Trump. I felt hope for our country, and a deeper sense of connection to people, including those determined to vote for Trump again. Kamala Harris’ presumptive nomination is historic, but it is not a check on a box. It is a sign that we have each other’s backs. That despite the long term bi-partisan effort to convince the American people to dismiss Harris, Harris stands. And in seeing her, we see a piece of ourselves. We see what is possible when we reject racism and sexism, embrace the reality of America, who we have been and who we can be. So America can continue her imperfect journey towards realizing the democratic ideals of its founding.

The night before Kamala Harris was our presumptive nominee, I felt like a woman in America. Today, I just feel like a person. I think that’s how we all should feel.