The Blackest DNC Takeaways As Biden Passes The Democratic Torch To Kamala Harris

The Democratic National Convention opened Monday night with a rousing lineup of speakers taking the stage in front of an adoring crowd at the jam-packed United Center in Chicago.

And while every speaker stressed the importance of making sure Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are elected in November, each one also took the time to explain to the audience and viewers at home why it was so important.

MORE: DNC: Democratic Leaders Push For Deeper Connections With Black Male Voters

As such, a parade of card-carrying Democrats including elected officials, business leaders and other dignitaries alternately took turns sounding the alarm about the consequences of Donald Trump having a second term in the White House, underscoring the urgency of the moment.

Among those speakers were notable Black people who raised awareness on a variety of pressing issues pertinent to the 2024 election.

Keep reading to find the Blackest takeaways from the first night of the 2024 DNC.

Black women are leading

Obviously, Democrats are rallying around Kamala Harris, who would become the first Black and Asian woman president in the history of the United States should she and Walz be elected in November. But a veritable who’s who of Black women leaders are not only expected to grace the DNC stage this week, but a handful of them were there on Day 1 to open the convention in ways that only they could.

They included California Rep. Maxine Waters, who made the historic connection between Harris’ candidacy and the resilience of voting rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer 60 years earlier at the DNC in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett — a former public defender — laid out the argument of why Harris is a more qualified candidate than Trump:

“One candidate worked at McDonald’s, while she was in college at an HBCU. The other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and helped his daddy in the family business: Housing discrimination. She became a career prosecutor, while he became a career criminal, with 34 felonies, two impeachments, and one porn star to prove it.”

“Kamala Harris has a résumé. Donald Trump has a rap sheet. She presides over the Senate, while he keeps national secrets next to his thinking chair — y’all know what I said the other time — in Mar-A-Lago.”

Other Black women — often described as the backbone of the Democratic Party — who spoke on night 1 of the DNC include Los Angeles Mayor and former Congresswoman Karen Bass; California Sen. Laphonza Butler; former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge; Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood; Minyon Moore, Chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee; and Stacey Johnson-Batiste, Harris’ lifelong friend from Berkeley, California, where they met as kindergarteners.

Black women will continue to lead at the DNC as former First Lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to speak on Tuesday night.

Tribute to Jesse Jackson

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the iconic civil rights leader, appeared at the DNC in his hometown to a standing ovation 40 years after waging his own presidential campaign. While Jackson did not address the audience, likely due to his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, he did flash two thumbs up to the crowd as his sons, Yusef and U.S. Rep. Johnathan Jackson, and Rev. Al Sharpton accompanied him on stage.

Forty years after he ran for president and electrified the nation with his “Keep Hope Alive” speech, the Rev. Jesse Jackson makes a surprise appearance at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/I883tVWy3n

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 19, 2024

Pro-Palestinian protests were raging

A series of pro-Palestinian protests have been going on in Chicago since Sunday night. And while they continued outside of the United Center on Monday, some protesters managed to gain access inside the arena and interrupted President Joe Biden’s speech in an effort to raise awareness of the Israeli-led violence in Gaza that critics have called “genocide.” The issue is particularly near and dear to the hearts of Black Americans, many of whom have found a parallel between the Israeli treatment of Palestinians and the colonialization of the U.S. that involved slavery.

Sen. Raphael Warnock’s speech

One of the many highlights of night 1 of the DNC was the impassioned speech delivered by Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, whose words could have been mistaken for a sermon being preached to a faithful congregation

“I’m convinced tonight that we can lift the broken even as we climb,” Warnock, who is also the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta — Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church — told the audience. “We can heal the wounds that divide us. We can heal a planet in peril. We can heal the land.”

Warnock also took the time to express sympathy for those who have been killed in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

“We are as close in our humanity as a cough. I need my neighbors’ children to be okay so my children will be ok, Warniock said. “I need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza. I need Israelis and Palestinians — those in the Congo, those in Haiti, those in Ukraine, I need Americans on both sides of the track to be okay. Because we are all god’s children.”

Here are those last few moments of Sen. Raphael Warnock’s speech#DNC pic.twitter.com/AQp4YeyJOP

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 20, 2024

Biden passes the torch to Kamala Harris

The first night of the DNC doubled as a victory lap for Biden, whose selflessness was celebrated for stepping aside to allow Vice President Harris to run in his stead. Chants of “Thank you, Joe” rained down from the rafters and spread throughout the audience, particularly after he was introduced and took the stage. After running down the list of some of his most notable accomplishments as president, Biden passed the proverbial torch to Harris.

The section of Biden’s speech that will likely be best remembered.

After quoting the song, he said:

"I made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you.”

pic.twitter.com/SFWIt0MWLz

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) August 20, 2024

“Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career,” Biden told the crowd. “She’s tough, she’s experienced and she has enormous integrity.”

Biden added later: “Her story represents the best American story. And like many of our best presidents, she was also vice president.”

Kamala Harris says "I love you so much" to Joe Biden after his DNC speech. pic.twitter.com/KUfrvWT0ma

— The Recount (@therecount) August 20, 2024

The DNC is scheduled to end on Thursday.

Follow NewsOne’s coverage of the DNC via The Black Ballot.

SEE ALSO:

‘Is This America?’ Maxine Waters Links Kamala Harris, Fannie Lou Hamer In Triumphant DNC Speech

Kamala Harris’ Economic Speech Was A Good Start, But The Woes Of The Working Class Can’t Be Forgotten

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