Angela Alsobrooks – People like me, with stories like mine, do not usually make it to the United States Senate. But they should. I am the proud granddaughter of a housekeeper, Sarah Daisy, who raised her three children in a one-bedroom apartment. It was her dream to work in government, to help people. To achieve that dream, she had to take a typing test, but there was one problem—she didn’t know how to type, and she couldn’t afford a typewriter. So, she improvised. She put a white piece of paper on the refrigerator and drew a keyboard on it. Every night, she stood in front of that refrigerator and taught herself to type. She took the test, passed it, and got the job she dreamed of. I am her legacy. Tonight, I am a candidate for the U.S. Senate from the great state of Maryland.
I have always been inspired by women like my grandmother—women who imagine a better future and then have the grit to make it a reality. One of those women is a friend, a mentor, and a role model. That woman is Kamala Harris. Let me tell you about the Kamala I have known for 14 years.
I first heard about her in 2009 when I was running for State Attorney in Prince George’s County, Maryland. I read a story in Essence Magazine about a District Attorney in San Francisco using new ideas to keep her community safe. Kamala had a better record of prosecuting violent crime, putting child molesters and murderers behind bars. But what truly stood out to me was that she understood that violent crime accounts for 30% of all crimes, and for the 70% that are nonviolent, she created a first-of-its-kind program called Back on Track. After serving time and pleading guilty, these low-level offenders would get the job training, GED help, and apprenticeships they needed to find a job. The result? Recidivism rates plummeted.
After reading about this incredible District Attorney, I couldn’t stop talking about her on the campaign trail. Two days after I won the election, my phone rang. It was Kamala Harris. She called to congratulate me and asked how she could help. She helped me bring Back on Track to Maryland. Crime went down, and economic growth went up. Today, Back on Track is a national model.
Donald Trump says that if Kamala Harris is elected, tough guys will treat her like a play toy. Do you know who else thought that? The drug cartel she busted. The big oil company she made pay for polluting. The big banks that she made pay $20 billion to homeowners they ripped off. For Kamala, getting justice for others is not a power trip; it’s a sacred calling. Hear me when I say, Kamala Harris knows how to keep criminals off the streets. Come November, with your help, she will keep one out of the Oval Office.
Ever since Donald Trump descended that escalator, we as a nation have felt trapped. Every national decision has been made in reaction to this one man and his extremist MAGA movement. We are still frozen by the fear that Donald Trump might once again come to power. It is not just our politics that have been trapped; it is our imagination. Then, Kamala came along.
Kamala has reminded us that we do not need to fear anything—not the future, and certainly not that man. This is our moment to leave Donald Trump where he belongs—in America’s past. We stand with Kamala Harris because we, as a country, are not going back. For the ancestors who sat at lunch counters and ensured we all have the right to vote, we are not going back! For the mamas and grandmamas who marched to make sure women could control our own bodies, we are not going back! For the parents who worked from morning until they couldn’t see at night, not so they would have a better future, but so their children would have a better life—we are not going back!
When facing an obstacle, my father often said to me, “Your faith is stronger than your fears.” Tonight, our faith is stronger than our fears—faith in the promise of America, faith in the American idea, faith in the American values that we share, and faith that we, the people, can choose a new leader, a better future for the people. Faith that, as dark as our challenges have felt, it is always darkest before the dawn. We know that we can endure the night because joy cometh in the morning. Morning is coming. Morning is coming, and that joy will be led by Kamala Harris.
