Senator Kamala Harris Announces Presidential Bid on MLK Holiday

On the federal holiday reserved for remembering the legacy of Civil Rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther, King Jr., a new chapter in the political career of one of the nation’s most powerful African Americans began. U.S Senator Kamala Harris announced she will run for President of the United States in 2020.

“She is an incredibly intelligent woman,” says Dr. Wilmer Leon, a professor at Howard University.

Two other women in the Democratic Party have signaled an interest in seeking the nomination by setting up exploratory committees. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kristen Gillibrand are testing waters but have not made formal announcements.

Harris is the second African American woman to ever run for the Democratic nomination for President. New York Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm  ran in 1972.

“Shirley Chisholm was a sincere and compassionate politician who was committed to the Black community,” says Dr. Ray Winbush, director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University. “I’m not sure that Kamala was/is at that level of commitment.”

Leon, who is also a nationally syndicated radio host, is also questioning the progressive credentials of Harris and others.

“I think her candidacy is a very good, very timely announcement. The more diversity that can be injected into our options is a good thing,” Leon emphasizes. “We have to be sure that we don’t get caught up in quantity over quality. And, what I mean by that is we have Julian Castro, we have Elizabeth Warren…we have Kamala Harris so that the diversity of ethnicity and that diversity of gender is fantastic. The real questions become what are the substantive policy initiatives that this diversity brings to the table?”

Both Winbush and Leon delivered speeches during King holiday festivities. Leon is urging candidates to remember Dr. King’s words as they promote their presidential platforms.

“Dr. King said, ‘The three evils of society were materialism, militarism, and racism,’” explained Leon. “He gave that speech in 1967. He said that those three issues were the plaque of western civilization. And, when you look at American foreign policy today and American domestic policy today, those continue to be, I think, the three controlling factors of the mission in America. And, so as we celebrate Dr. King today, my question to Harris, Castro, Warren, to anyone who is running is, ‘How do you plan to address those three factors?’”