By Dia Wall
DALLAS — Vice President Kamala Harris addressed more than 20,000 women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA) on Wednesday in Dallas.
AKA held its 2024 Biennial National Convention, or 71st Boule, at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The vice president delivered a keynote address, outlining the importance of the upcoming presidential election.
“We have worked too hard and fought too long to see our daughters grow up in a world with fewer rights than our mothers,” Harris exclaimed. “And so in this moment, once again, our nation is counting on the leaders in this room to guide us forward.”
Nyanza Moore is a long-time member of AKA from Houston. She showed up early to ensure she was inside the room for the vice president’s speech. “It was fire! It was like a pink haze! Pink fire with green clouds combing up and it was like a boom when she walked onto the stage,” Moore described. “That was the perfect room to set the stage for what we need to do and what we are charged with as her sorority sisters to do between now and election day.”
The sorority has more than 360,000 members across 12 countries. AKAs also mobilized during the 2020 election to support and donate to the Biden-Harris campaign.
“The mood inside was exciting. It was a lot of high energy. There was a great feeling of sisterhood already but she just added to that even more today by showing up,” Sheila Lewis Hutchison of Monroe, Louisiana smiled.
Renita Pettigrew, from Dallas, attended with her daughter and shared that Harris, “Has a very strong, powerful message for women.”
On the issues, Harris was direct about what she believes is at stake. At one point, sharing goals outlined in Project 2025. “It includes a plan to cut social security. To repeal our 35-dollar cap on insulin. To eliminate the Department of Education and end programs like Head Start,” Harris said. The vice president concluded to thunderous applause and chants of, “Four more years!” A moment her sisters tell WFAA that set the stage for November. Moore emphasized, “Kamala Harris looked presidential today. She looked like she would be ready on day one to get the job done, if necessary.”