By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent@StacyBrownMedia
When asked what challenges she and fellow Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) faced as Black candidates during their 2019 run for president, Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) urged everyone in the room to close their eyes.
“Then, imagine the boy next door and think of a four-letter word phrase that would define mine and Cory’s campaign,” Harris said.
“You don’t have it. It doesn’t exist. So, we had to consistently explain who we are as people, and our character.”
It seemed quite the metaphor for a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 11.
Led by Sens. Harris and Booker, the frank one-hour conversation tackled everything from voter suppression to the coronavirus.
Only journalists of color received an invitation to the event, which included remarks from Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and several others. The senators said they wanted to open the floor to issues that pertain mostly to African Americans.
Kaine, who has openly championed the Black Press of America, said he was pleased that the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) was among the news organizations represented.
The NNPA is a trade organization of the more than 220 African American owned newspapers and media companies in the United States.
Harris said the gathering was important, particularly since just 7.5 percent of American journalists are Black, and that was evident as she hit the campaign trail last year.
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