The quote is from a fellow attendee after MVP Kamala Harris’ book tour event in Houston, as we were walking down the street, each with a copy of her book in our hand.
The answer is a resounding, yes.
Texas can be complicated, but Houston often pleases me and sometimes, astounds me, positively.
Waiting outside the Hobby Center to get into the event 90 minutes before being let in, on a nice fall day, 82 degrees, not too humid and with a bit of a breeze, was the first pleasant surprise of the day. The next, positive moment, was seeing all of the HPD officers riding by, assembling to protect MVP Kamala Harris, people nodding in gratitude. The third, was the diversity of the attendees. This was a paid event, for around 2600 people, unlike MVP Kamala Harris’ huge, free campaign event in October last year. That event was certainly diverse. It’s not that. But this was a microcosm of supporters, seen close up and frankly, some who attended I would not have guessed to be supporters if I met them elsewhere. And that just shows my prejudices and how I/we can be alienated from one another if we don’t even try to approach one another and engage in dialog.
Once in the lobby, the first sight that brought me joy was a white girl, about age 9, dressed in chucks and pearls. Speaking as a white woman, whose demographic has betrayed our democracy, that little girl gave me hope for our future. I do hope, for her, that the rest of us will do better in the next election.
From the moment that MVP Kamala Harris took the stage until she left the stage, we were all united and lit in a special Houston, Texas way. When Carlos Espina talked about his disappointment in how some of his fellow Latinos voted, how he could hardly speak to them, MVP Kamala Harris tried to appeal for our mercy, but we were not immediately susceptible. She acknowledged that we could be mad (she did that with relish, which we all loved), and said that we should not give up on people. People have been manipulated. We also have to understand the diversity within each population.
Points from 3 questions from the audience (read & not directly asked):
1) Have a safe group. In answer to the question MVP Kamala Harris also referred to the dedication in her book to her team.
2) On how to effect change in today’s climate: Join protests, join non-profits (with particular emphasis on this, given the mfg’s putsch against non-profits, and run for office.
3) To the question, “How do you find peace in the chaos”, MVP Kamala Harris said, and these aren’t exact quotes:
a) Try to find the good and the light.
b) Turn everything off sometimes.
c) Cook. Chopping everything away.,
d) (She) believes in god.
5) It’s okay to be angry, sad. Don’t linger in that.
6) Try not to be alone. We are all in this together.
And this (number 6) is MVP Kamala Harris’ most important message. Seek companionship, whether in person or online. We ARE in this together, but we have to seek one another out to recognize and take advantage of that.
