On April 14, the National Action Network (NAN) convention welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris to deliver a keynote speech to galvanize the fight to protect democracy.
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of NAN, hosted the annual event, which was the largest in their convention’s history. Held at the Sheraton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, the convention kicked off on Wednesday, April 12, with the traditional ribbon-cutting with New York City and state elected officials. During the week-long event, the civil rights organization will bring together trailblazing leaders in entertainment, business, civil rights, education, and other fields as the nation confronts concerted threats to its democracy. Those figures include Harris and nearly a dozen Biden Administration officials, Tyler Perry, Kerry Washington, Magic Johnson, and more.
The room echoed with cheers as Harris, surrounded by Black civil right activists and other supportive members, prompted the hundreds of attendees to “stand and protect our democracy” from Republicans. She touched on topics condemning the stripping of African American history in school curricula, voting rights, reproductive rights, and the lack of gun laws, while justifying how Biden’s administration has supported Americans, including Black Americans.
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“Extremists across our country attack the freedom to vote,” Harris said. “They ban books to attempt to erase America’s full history. They attack the ability of people to love openly and with pride. They attack the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body instead of the government. They attack medications that for 20 years the FDA ruled as being safe. Democracy means being heard. However, we are lacking at this.”
Harris recounted recent events that occurred in Tennessee, where Republican legislators removed two Black lawmakers from office after the men led a peaceful protest to reinforce stronger gun control measures after six people lost their lives to gun violence in Nashville. Along with a white third-party legislator, the two legisltaors—Justin Jones and Justin Pearson—have made headlines nationally that fueled the nickname the “Tennessee Three.” After gaining substantial, vocal support nationally, they were quickly reinstated.
Harris made it clear during her 34-minute speech that extremists cannot be allowed to silence people, and believers in social justice must be more vocal than ever about the social issues affecting the country. “Seven thousand students and parents continued to organize and march and raise their voices, and now Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are back in their seats,” she said as the crowd rose to their feet applauding. “The people spoke.”
Harris invoked the powerful legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., saying the struggle for civil rights includes a fight for economic justice for all: “As Dr. King made clear, freedom includes the ability of all people to fully exercise their rights—rights that generations of Americans bled and died for, rights that the people in this very room continue to march and fight for,” she said. “That is our nation’s freedom blueprint. And that is what we stand for.”