Kamala Harris courts Black voters as campaign kicks off
In the US presidential election, some polls show a shift in the Black vote toward Republican Donald Trump, especially among men. But Democrat Kamala Harris has sent a clear message to Black voters at her first campaign events: She wants their votes.
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00:00This is the mood Democrats are hoping for.
00:04During Kamala Harris' first big rally,
00:06people here in Atlanta, Georgia celebrated the shift away from Joe Biden.
00:12I am so excited to get Kamala into the White House.
00:18She's not crazy.
00:20And I think her policies are really great.
00:22And I think she represents us as a country.
00:24Something new for the country.
00:26And you know, it's time. We need change.
00:29As a black American, our family, our forefathers fought really hard for this opportunity.
00:34And I will not, not lay down on it.
00:37And I'm going to activate my right to vote.
00:39Can she bring back the crucial black voters to the Democrats?
00:45Away from the bubble of the hardcore supporters, the situation is more complex.
00:51Celeste Sunshine Smith is a 30-year-old entrepreneur
00:55and runs her own hairstyling business out of a shared salon.
00:59You know, a lot of people that lean towards Trump,
01:04they think about the dollar aspect.
01:07They're concerned with how the money in their pocket is going to get in their pocket, right?
01:10So she needs to explain that to them.
01:13How are you going to keep the money in here?
01:16Because we put money out all the time.
01:19We give money to this country, that country.
01:21But how are you going to keep the money here?
01:23That's the biggest thing that's going to help get the Trump supporters on her side.
01:28So whom will she vote for?
01:33I still wouldn't know. I still don't know.
01:36I would say Kamala would definitely have to show me where the growth is
01:41as far as the American income is going to be, for sure.
01:46With all honesty, I would have voted for Trump if Biden didn't step out of the race.
01:52And what about the black male community, a group where polling showed Trump gaining strength?
01:58Every week a large group of black men and boys come together in Atlanta to discuss issues.
02:05This time Kamala Harris is at the center of the discussion.
02:11Until the vice president entered the race,
02:14I think a lot of black men and young men in particular were really not that interested.
02:20They just thought it would just be more of the same.
02:23One of the very important issues for me personally as a lawyer and as a professor
02:30is the issue of reparations.
02:32I think that conversation has to happen.
02:35I think we also have to look at ways of strengthening our HBCUs,
02:41our historically black colleges and universities, with funding.
02:46We also are concerned about policing in America.
02:50For me, it's the first African American female that could potentially be president of this country.
02:56I have a phenomenal mother, grandmother, raised in a house with a mom and dad,
03:00and a lot of times the female runs the home.
03:03So why not can a female run this country?