After the results of the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris tells us to “keep fighting.”
Harris delivered her concession speech at her alma mater Howard University on November 6. Her words were not just a response to the outcome of the election, but a call to action for many women and girls across the nation. Her concession speech was not a message of surrender, it was a message of hope and a pledge to keep fighting.
At a time when many women are feeling scared, angry and disheartened by the announcing of Donald Trump as president elect, Harris reminds as that while it’s natural to feel these emotions, the fight is far from over.
In her speech, Harris asks her voters to accept the results of the election, but more importantly to keep fighting for their beliefs and rights.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” she said firmly.
Harris also urged women to keep pushing for reproduction rights and Roe v. Wade.
“I will never give up a fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspiration, where the women of America have the freedom to make decision about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do,” Harris said.
She also called for the continued fight to protect schools and streets from the growing gun violence crisis in the United States.
“We will never give up fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence,” Harris said. “And America, we will never give up the fight for our democracy, for the rule of law and for equal justice and the scared idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out has, certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respect and withhold.”
She reminded us that the idea of human rights for everyone is not a far-off, abstract idea, but the standard we believe in and strive to meet.
“This is not a time to throw up our hands, this is a time to roll up our sleeves,” Harris said.
Her message is one of resilience, community, love and the promise of change. As you hear her tear up during her speech, know that she feels the same emotions as many of us.
Harris went on to share a powerful message: “When we fight, we win, but here’s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win.”
Acknowledging that change is a journey that is often long and littered with obstacles, we will persevere because we must. And so we will continue to move forward with determination.
She closes her speech with this: ” A law of history: Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
In what many feels will be dark times for America, Harris’s words are a beacon of hope.
“Let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant brilliant billon of stars, the light of optimism of faith of truth and service,” Harris said. Even in the face of setbacks, there is always the possibility of change and progress.
Kamala Harris will keep fighting, and so should we.