Just weeks ahead of the Democratic National convention, Minyon Moore, chair of the party’s political showcase, didn’t know who Kamala Harris would pick as her running mate.
Still, Moore was managing to “slightly” restructure the program to highlight Harris’ values and introduce her to American voters, as thousands of delegates, lawmakers, volunteers and others were getting ready to gather in Chicago to help her win the White House.
Interest in the convention has increased since Harris replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, convention officials said.
For the first time, a woman of color will be a presidential nominee for a major political party and Black women will play most of the key roles in leading the Democratic convention – the party’s premiere national showcase.
“We’re seeing these prominent leadership roles in the hands of African American women,’’ said Wendy Smooth, a professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and Political Science at The Ohio State University. “It really comes as no surprise because they have certainly put in the work and have been pivotal contributors.”
For decades, Smooth and other experts said, Black women have worked – often behind the scenes – strategizing, mobilizing and organizing voters of color for the Democratic Party.
With them out front at the convention, among other things, that leadership will feature more speakers from often marginalized communities.
“We do want to make sure that America sees the diversity of who we are and how we’re trying to usher in … a new generation,’’ Moore told a small group of reporters recently in Chicago.
More young people, older people, people from LGBTQ+ communities and people of different ethnicities and faiths will appear on the podium than in years past, she said, and the convention will salute civil rights veterans such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who ran for president in 1984 and 1988.
“Black women play a significant role in the future of this party and have always, but especially now with a Black woman at the top of the ticket,” said Marcia Fudge, who served as convention chair in 2016 and is now co-chair of Harris’ presidential campaign. “The significance of it is that we all have the kinds of experiences that we know are going to be needed to get us through this convention and through this election.”
DNC Convention Leaders
It was Biden who selected people to head the convention, including people he trusted, who could get the job done and who had a wide network, Fudge said.
Fudge, co-chair of the DNC Credentials Committee, said Biden also chose people who had run conventions and “who were very capable of making sure that we have the best convention that we’ve ever had.’’
Moore, a Chicago native, has spent decades in national Democratic politics, including working on Jackson’s presidential campaign. She is also a former CEO of the DNC and was an adviser to Biden.
In addition to Moore, other African American women at the convention helm, include Christy George, executive director of the host committee, who helps raise money for the convention. George was first assistant deputy governor for budget and economy in the office of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Keiana Barrett, a senior adviser to the host committee, leads procurement efforts and advises on business equity practices and youth engagement. She has served on the communications team for Rainbow Push and the Congressional Black Caucus.
In addition to existing leaders, Moore said she, George and Barrett “recognize that the convention is an opportunity to build a bench of talented women.”
”Throughout my career, I’ve been in rooms full of people who don’t look like me or understand my lived experience,” Moore said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Not only is it important that Black women are now in the room, but we are swinging the door open and making sure to lift up the next generation of diverse and talented leaders.”
Other Black women in key roles, include Rev. Leah Daughtry, co-chair of the DNCC Rules Committee who will present the committee’s report Monday. Daughtry will also deliver an invocation next week . She served as convention CEO in 2008 and 2016.
Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic political strategist and former interim DNC chair and also managed the presidential campaign of Al Gore in 2000, is on the credentialing committee,
Several other Black women are chairs of state caucuses and key committees, including Lottie Shackelford, the first woman elected mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas, who heads the DNC Women’s Caucus.
“We bring our own special sauce and the spices that go with it,” said Brazile, who is attending her 11th convention. “We came up through the process by which we were still fighting to have a seat at the table.”
Daughtry said the Democratic party has made strides since Alexis Herman served as CEO of the convention in 1992, noting that she and other Black women were appointed to their positions.
That “tells me that the party understands what we bring to the table and has been willing to trust us with these key and pivotal moments that are critical to the party’s forward movement, the party’s success,” she said. “Is there more room (for improvement)? Of course, there’s always more room.”
Fudge, who stepped down from her post as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in March, said while some Black women have led the convention in the past, there’s a different energy this time.
“For all of us, it takes a different kind of urgency, a different kind of care … Because it’s a Black woman and we know what the stakes are for Black women in this country,’’ Daughtry said. “Having a Black woman nominee makes us triple check that the T’s are crossed and that the I’s are dotted … We don’t get another chance as Black women. We have to be twice as good. We’re sensitive in that we want it to be successful. We want the ‘introduction’ of Kamala Harris to the world to be flawless and to be pitch perfect, so we’re paying extra attention.”