‘We persevered’: Kansas City Democrats celebrate White House win, Harris’ rise to VP
At 10:25 a.m. Saturday, Rhonda Harris jumped up in excitement, then she fell to her knees and thanked God.
She, like many Americans, had just learned Pennsylvania had been called for now President-elect Joe Biden, pushing him over the necessary 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency and beat out incumbent President Donald Trump.
Harris, a 64-year-old Kansas City resident, joined a crowd of about 100 people Sunday afternoon to take in the historic election which ushers in Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, the first female and first woman of color to take up the responsibilities of vice president.
“The glass ceiling has been kicked open,” Rhonda Harris said. “She’s the first and she won’t be the last, just like she said.”
Rhonda Harris wore a shirt bearing letters of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, of which the same the vice president-elect is a member. A tote that read “madam vice president” was slung over her shoulder as she joined Sunday’s victory celebration rally at Mill Creek Park near the Country Club Plaza.
Within hours of Saturday’s announcement, dozens of Kansas Citians took to the Plaza, cheering and dancing as passing drivers honked their vehicles in approval. Similar scenes played out around the country.
Sunday’s festivities were just as jovial.
“It’s important for us to honor this moment with a little bit of a celebration,” said rally organizer Manny Abarca, treasurer for Kansas City Public Schools.
Local Democratic leaders took the microphone Sunday as they spoke to a socially distanced crowd, preaching unity and perseverance, messages similar to those Biden presented Saturday night during his victory speech.
Jackson County Legislator Jalen Anderson told the crowd that the “nightmare” of division, hatred, despair and economic disparity experienced under the Trump presidency doesn’t end with Saturday’s election results.
“America is finally coming to the realization of its true history: We are not as innocent as we claim to be, but we can be as great as we claim to be,” he said, taking inspiration from Maya Angelou.
Representative-elect for District 24, Emily Weber, the first Asian-American woman elected to the Missouri Legislature, encouraged other women to run for office.
“We persevered a president who verbally abused and vulgarized our precious women ... but yet, sisters, you are still here, and who he disrespected is now taking residence in the White House,” said the Rev. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City.
Patricia Hernandez, a committeewoman for the Jackson County Democratic Committee, said her father, a Mexican man, taught her that people of color always had a place in America.
“He has definitely instilled in me that we have to fight for what we believe in,” said Hernandez, 34, who spent the past couple years helping people register to vote.
After months of work, she made note of the diverse crowd growing around her Sunday.
“As a woman of Mexican descent, as a woman of color, just watching (Kamala Harris) speak, it gave me hope again that we haven’t had in so long, and that we matter,” Hernandez said. “I felt so alone, you know, and now I don’t feel so alone I guess.”
Mayor Quinton Lucas was the last to speak, though he said little before a group of protesters approached him, chanting “Black lives matter” and “fire Chief Rick Smith.”
“And this is Democracy in action,” Lucas said of the protesters before stepping away from the microphone. The crowd gathered for the rally fizzled out quickly afterward.
Local activist Justice Horn said despite Saturday’s win, there is still much progress to be made toward criminal justice reform and valuing Black lives.
“(The protesters) are still moving in the struggle even though today we want to talk about celebrating, we’ve still got kids in cages and we’ve still got Black people suffering and we still have transgender individuals being killed in our cities,” Horn said. “It’s very much a day to celebrate where our nation is, but maybe we need to be getting to work faster than what I thought.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 9:40 PM.
