We hear other voices and see other faces but she is subdued.
By Cheryl Morgan
The streets are filled with outraged women coming from every corner of the nation. In town squares and Main Streets, in small towns and big cities, all across America women are uniting in protest. We are taking a stand and declaring you cannot oppress us ever again. The day of reckoning is at hand, Supreme Court and Red States. And I say - it’s about damn time! We have been silent and apathetic for too long. The foot soldiers are ready. What we need is a female Martin Luther King to lead us.
Eighteen months ago, the women of the United States of America celebrated the inauguration of the first woman Vice President. With tears in our eyes and hope in our hearts, we proudly claimed our places alongside Kamala Harris. Our left hands were raised and our right hands were on the Bible, right along with hers, as she spoke the precious words of the oath of office. “I solemnly swear...” In that moment, we recalled all the times we had been put down, suppressed, disregarded and discarded. We recalled the decades of marches, riots, speeches and fights. We recalled the enormous effort it took to make the gains we have made over the last century - the right to vote, equal educational opportunity, equal pay for equal work, the right to choose. This was the election that affirmed our struggles; this was our victory.
But, hold on. This was much more than a political victory for women. This was, I believe, divine intervention. This was the strategic placement of an intelligent and strong black woman a heartbeat away from the Presidency, positioned for greatness and preparing for the time when we would need her to lead this very fight against the Supreme Court’s efforts to roll back time and strip us of our rights. Everything is staged perfectly for her to step into this moment. We are ready, willing, and waiting.
But where is her voice? Where is her leadership? We hear other voices and see other faces but she is subdued. Hundreds of thousands march and Kamala Harris schedules a dignified interview with Dana Bash. Vice President Harris is diplomatic and political at a time when we need her to be angry and outspoken and demanding of change. Her solution is to tell us to vote blue in November. She claims the votes are not currently there in the senate to end the filibuster so that abortion rights can be codified into law. No one is disputing that, but what we need right now is for Vice President Harris to be a tiger.
We need her to shake things up. We need her to turn on the pressure. We need her to get out of her comfort zone and show up at rallies and make national speeches. We need her to TikTok and Facebook and Instagram the hell out of this issue. This is her Martin Luther King moment in history and we need her to grab hold of it. She has the platform but so far, she does not have the spirit we need her to have for this fight. This may be a tragic lost opportunity for the women of this nation.
Others will step forward like Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but they do not carry the weight of the Vice Presidency, Kamala Harris does. This is her time, this is her fight, and she must grab the opportunity to change the course of history right now. She must wake up and step up for the good of the nation, for the good of women, for the good of society. Vice President Harris, we are impatient and we are calling upon you to accept this Martin Luther King assignment and lead us to victory. Millions will follow if you will just lead. We are watching, the world is watching, make your mark now.
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