It’s only fitting that the first Black Vice President of The United States and the first VP to attend a Historically Black College or University, Kamala Harris, capped off HBCU week this year.
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HBCU week, a celebration of all things HBCU, was held in Wilmington, Delaware, home of President Joe Biden.
In a speech in front of Biden-Harris administration staffers who graduated from Historically black colleges and universities, Harris discussed the importance of HBCUs and the administration’s support of the schools.
According to the White House, the Biden-Harris administration has provided roughly $3.7 billion in pandemic relief funding to HBCUs. And the Department of Education has given roughly $1.6 billion in infrastructure-related debt relief.
As the November election edges closer, Harris has been intentional about touting her Howard alumnus bona-fides in what appears to be an effort to shore up the Democrat’s strongest base, Black voters.
Earlier this year, Harris appeared at Essence Festival in New Orleans alongside her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters. For those who don’t know, Harris is a proud AKA (they wear pink and green) sorority alumn.
And in July, she spoke to a group of Omega Psi Phi fraternity brothers at an event where she received a standing ovation from the brothers, according to the 19th news.
Focusing on her deep connection to historically Black institutions and her sorority certainly doesn’t seem to be hurting Harris, who remains popular with Black Americans.
According to the most recent YouGov America poll, Kamala Harris has an almost 60 percent approval rating among Black Americans, with only 28.6 percent of Black Americans having an unfavorable view of the Vice President.
Now that the mid-terms are almost here, it’s likely we’ll see Harris continue to focus on her HBCU roots and her connection with Black voters.
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